Anthropomorphism

What is anthropomorphism?

Anthropomorphism is attributing humanlike characteristics, intentions or emotions to nonhuman entities, such as an object, animal or imagined agent.

Epley, Waytz and Cacioppo (2007) propose that it depends partly on accessible knowledge about humans, motivation to understand an agent and desire for social connection. It varies across people and situations.

Calling a malfunctioning computer stubborn is an everyday example. It can be a useful metaphor without being a literal belief about the machine. The question is whether the human description helps explain what the system does or leads you to expect capacities it does not have. For an organization or an animal, examine the actual structure or capacities rather than letting the description do all the work.