Conclusion
aggression
The omnipresence of hate speech in human environments severely affects people’s attitudes and behavior. Researchers of aggression and intergroup relations have often suggested that frequent exposure to hate speech might lead to prejudice, dehumanization, and lack of empathy toward outgroup membersIn the present experimental study, we aimed to directly tackle this question by analyzing the effects of hate speech exposure on empathy and/or mentalizing. The study suggests that immersion in a hateful environment leads to empathic numbing: people exposed to hate speech have limited ability to attribute the psychological perspective of others, regardless of their group membership.This initial finding suggests that hate speech affects human functioning beyond intergroup relations. It is well established that after being exposed to hate speech against a specific target group (e.g., gay people), people start dehumanizing them