Definition
The attribution of human traits, motivations, and persona-like qualities to nonhuman animals and/or inanimate objects.
Introduction
The perception that nonhuman animals and inanimate objects possess human characteristics, motivations, and personalities is described as anthropomorphism. Application of anthropomorphic interpretations may reflect both the conceptual nature of anthropomorphism and its use as a critical means of understanding phenomena and patterns of behavior. Anthropomorphic thinking may, at times, be imprecise in relation to real world phenomena, whereby human traits are projected in an exaggerated manner onto a nonhuman animal or object in order to predict or depict their internal states, desires, thoughts, and motivations. This kind of anthropomorphism is most often found in children’s books, cartoons, films about animals, and even some nature documentaries. In contrast, another form of...
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Dolins, F.L. (2017). Anthropomorphism. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2639-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2639-1
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