People often see nonhuman agents as human-like. Through the processes of anthropomorphism and humanization, people attribute human characteristics, including personalities, free will, and agency to pets, cars, gods, nature, and the like. Similarly, there are some people who often see human agents as less than human, or more object-like. In this manner, objectification describes the treatment of a human being as a thing, disregarding the person's personality and/or sentience. For example, women, medical patients, racial minorities, and people with disabilities, are often seen as animal-like or less than human through dehumanization and objectification. These two opposing forces may be a considered a continuum with anthropomorphism and humanization on one end and dehumanization and objectification on the other end. Although researchers have identified some of the antecedents and consequences of these processes, a systematic investigation of the motivations that underlie this continuum is lacking. Considerations of this continuum may have considerable implications for such areas as everyday human functioning, interactions with people, animals, and objects, violence, discrimination, relationship development, mental health, or psychopathology. The edited volume will integrate multiple theoretical and empirical approaches on this issue.

This book provides a chronology of the 68th Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, which is focused on contemporary research knowledge about sexual violence and alcohol use. This book is more specific to dating and intimate partner sexual violence in young adult populations. The target audience is researchers, prevention agencies and policymakers within academia and military settings.  Alcohol use has long been recognized as a major contributor to sexual assault, with an estimated 50% of sexual assaults in the U.S. involving drinking by the victim, perpetrator, or both. Beyond the usual harmful effects, alcohol-involved assaults are associated with unique sequelae for female victims, including increased self-blame, stigma, and greater alcohol use to cope. Moreover, heavier drinking on the part of the perpetrator is associated with more serious incidents of assault (e.g., involving physical force) that result in more severe outcomes for victims. The purpose of this Symposium on Motivation is to bring together a group of experts in the areas of alcohol and sexual aggression to articulate the causes, consequences, and mechanisms of alcohol-involved sexual assault. Speakers will talk about classic and contemporary research and theories on these issues using cutting-edge approaches (e.g., virtual reality, neuroscience, laboratory-based alcohol administration) from a variety of perspectives (perpetrators, victims, bystanders).

People often see nonhuman agents as human-like. Through the processes of anthropomorphism and humanization, people attribute human characteristics, including personalities, free will, and agency to pets, cars, gods, nature, and the like. Similarly, there are some people who often see human agents as less than human, or more object-like. In this manner, objectification describes the treatment of a human being as a thing, disregarding the person's personality and/or sentience. For example, women, medical patients, racial minorities, and people with disabilities, are often seen as animal-like or less than human through dehumanization and objectification. These two opposing forces may be a considered a continuum with anthropomorphism and humanization on one end and dehumanization and objectification on the other end. Although researchers have identified some of the antecedents and consequences of these processes, a systematic investigation of the motivations that underlie this continuum is lacking. Considerations of this continuum may have considerable implications for such areas as everyday human functioning, interactions with people, animals, and objects, violence, discrimination, relationship development, mental health, or psychopathology. The edited volume will integrate multiple theoretical and empirical approaches on this issue.