Exploitative People Treat You Like an Object

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1:00The show that makes you laugh, think, and occasionally uncomfortable. The last show with David Cooper. We're told not to treat people like objects, makes sense, but apparently some people didn't get the memo because a new study finds entitlement and exploitative personalities. People with them are far more likely to see others that they interact with as basically tools. I'm here with someone who worked on that study. She is an organizational psychology professor at Fratso Off University of Science and Technology in Poland. Her name is Yolanda Babiak. Yolanda, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me here. The word objectify to objectify someone else. I've heard that phrase thrown around a lot, but I don't know that I know an exact definition, so how would a psychologist define somebody objectifying someone? What does it look like in everyday life? Okay, that's a very important question and we all should understand it.

2:01Now, objectifying someone means treating that person as an object. In other words, useful could be also thought of as interchangeable, even honorable. However, at the same time, not as subject, which means denying that person subjectivity, agency, even autonomy. So that's more or less general definition or definition by itself of the general tendency to objectify others. And so your research, it looks into who treats others that way, what kind of personality traits would I have if I treated people or I objectified them as a better way to say it? Right. Right. Right. Well, yes, there are some people who are more likely to objectify others. These individuals are strongly focused on themselves, okay, on pursuing their own interests

3:09and obviously on achieving their own goals, but there's nothing wrong with that, right? We always, we want to pursue our own goals and we're interested in our business, right? Now however, with that, objectifier sees other people through the lens of their mere usefulness. That means that they treat them instrumentally as tools in order to achieve their goals, right? So objectifier would secure his or her interest through treating others as tools through this lens. Now with the strong focus on themselves, they feel entitled, they feel or they have the sense of entitlement, meaning that they feel they're better, that they believe that they do deserve more than others.

4:12So they have a greater claim for attention, effort from others or resources, okay? Now that leads or that is, that means that instrumentally treatment is instrumental treatment of others. With that entitlement comes exploitiveness. Now with exploitiveness, people basically use to the max the resources of others. And now we have the entire picture of objectification because we treat others as tools, I want to use you because I have an interest of pursuing my goal, okay, achieving my own success, but I also need to exploit you so you serve me, okay? So there we have like two underpinnings of objectification, treating people as objects

5:14and treating them not as subjects. Now why might we do this? Is it because it's like psychologically convenient? Is it just easier to have a social life if we objectify people? Is it easier to get things done at work? Is there any benefit to objectifying people? Well, your first question, why might we do it? Well, if someone's personality profile is such that someone is more prone to objectify others, I mean, she or he would do it by the virtue of having that tendency. Obviously, like our lives are such that every day we want to achieve something, our days are full with tasks, different obligations. So we do it, but imagine in professional life, imagine at work. Obviously, we have to show to our boss or whoever that we do provide, that we do create

6:19added value to the organization, obviously. Now if I objectify other people or one person, right, then I will be able, let's say, to contribute and to succeed faster, better for my own benefit than other people. If anyone's listening and they're sort of hearing what you're saying and thinking, maybe I treat people this way, or perhaps I don't want to treat people this way, is there a way to stop objectifying others, other personality traits that I could try to cultivate to objectify people less? Yes, especially the trait or the tendency to reciprocate. Objectifiers do not reciprocate. They do not maintain the balance within the relationship of the reciprocation. What they do, they use a person as a tool for their own benefit, but they do not feel

7:25that they would need to pay back, at least to some degree. So yes, if you do have empathy for others, if you feel that, yes, someone helped you a lot and you use that person's skills, time, effort and different resources, right, their cognitive, emotional resources, any resources, but then you do not reciprocate and you just go on and on with your own stuff, then where this is when the balance is off, right? So reciprocating other people's deeds towards you and empathizing with them, understanding that they do have their own plans, their own intentions, that they do have their own autonomy is a way not to objectify. Would being more of an agreeable person and also being more of a curious person about others reduce your objectification of others?

8:26Yes, actually this is what our research says is that when you score high or that's a bit of a jargon, but if you are a agreeable person, meaning altruistic and pathetic, instead of being antagonistic, in other words, callous, you know, focused on your own stuff. And when you are intellectually, intellectually enclosed, like not curious in people's thoughts and emotions, under their lives, under their needs, then yes, you would objectify more. So individuals with antagonistic and like closed minds, like with lower intellect, lower in curiosity, would be the ones more, more probably to objectify others. Now the people who do objectify others, do they know what they're doing it?

9:27Is there a way to become more aware of my behavior? Yes, that's a tough question. You know, we need to ask ourselves, are we aware of our own tendencies? Well, those individuals who are self-reflective and who are conscious about their own behavior, their own thoughts, their own sort of like meta-conscious, right? Probably they would be able to reflect upon their behavior and interpersonal relationships with others. Otherwise, if we do not spend time on self-reflection, we could probably ignore that. Yolanda, thank you for joining me. This has been an interesting chat. Thanks for sharing your research. Thank you so much for having me again. Yolanda Babiak is an organizational psychology professor at Vrotswaff University of Science and Technology in Poland.

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