View source for Anthropomorphism

{{Short description|Attribution of human traits to non-human entities}}
{{About|the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities|the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person|Personification}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
[[File:The North Wind and the Sun - Wind - Project Gutenberg etext 19994.jpg|thumb|In this illustration by [[Milo Winter]] of [[Aesop]]'s fable, "[[The North Wind and the Sun]]", a [[personification|personified]] North Wind tries to strip the cloak off a traveler.]]
[[File:Antonio Franchi - Personification of Music (St Cecilia) - WGA08164.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Saint Cecilia|Personification of Music]]'' by [[Antonio Franchi]], {{Circa|1650}}]]
'''Anthropomorphism''' is the attribution of [[human]] traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities.<ref name="oed"/> It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking: How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy, Healthy, and Sane |last=Hutson |first=Matthew |publisher=Hudson Street Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-101-55832-4 |location=New York |pages=165–81}}</ref> [[Personification]] is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to abstract concepts such as nations, emotions, and natural forces, such as seasons and weather. Both have ancient roots as storytelling and artistic devices, and most cultures have traditional fables with anthropomorphized animals as characters. People have also routinely attributed human emotions and behavioral traits to wild as well as domesticated animals.<ref name=Moss>{{cite news |last=Moss |first=Stephen |title=What you see in this picture says more about you than the kangaroo |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/14/picture-kangaroo-empathy-sexual-exploitation-human-anthropomorphise |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=15 January 2016 |access-date=17 January 2016 |archive-date=18 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190918013810/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/14/picture-kangaroo-empathy-sexual-exploitation-human-anthropomorphise |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Etymology==
Anthropomorphism and '''anthropomorphization''' derive from the verb form ''anthropomorphize'',{{efn|Possibly via [[French language|French]] ''{{lang|fr|anthropomorphisme}}''.<ref name=oed/>}} itself derived from the [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] ''ánthrōpos'' ({{lang|grc|ἄνθρωπος}}, <small>{{abbr|lit.|literally}}</small> "human") and ''morphē'' ({{lang|grc|μορφή}}, "form"). It is first attested in 1753, originally in reference to the heresy of applying a human form to the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[God the Father|God]].{{efn|Anthropomorphism, among divines, the error of those who ascribe a human figure to the deity.<ref>{{citation |date=1753 |title=Chambers's Cyclopædia, Supplement }}</ref>}}<ref name=oed>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 1st ed. "anthropomorphism, ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1885.</ref>

==Examples in prehistory==
[[File:Lion man photo.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|100px|The 35,000 to 40,000 year-old [[Lion-man|Löwenmensch figurine]]]]
[[File:7th millennium BC sculptures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Anthropomorphic "pebble" figures from the 7th millennium BC]]

From the beginnings of human [[behavioral modernity]] in the [[Upper Paleolithic]], about 40,000 years ago, examples of [[Zoomorphism|zoomorphic]] (animal-shaped) works of art occur that may represent the earliest known evidence of anthropomorphism. One of the oldest known is an [[ivory]] sculpture, the [[Lion-man|Löwenmensch figurine]], Germany, a human-shaped [[figurine]] with the head of a lioness or lion, determined to be about 32,000 years old.<ref name="Lion-human1">{{cite web
  | title =  Lionheaded Figurine
  | url =  http://www.showcaves.com/english/explain/Archaeology/Loewenfrau.html
  | access-date =  6 May 2010
  | archive-date =  11 May 2011
  | archive-url =  https://web.archive.org/web/20110511145734/http://www.showcaves.com/english/explain/Archaeology/Loewenfrau.html
  | url-status =  live
  }}</ref><ref name="Lion-human2">{{cite web|last=Dalton |title=Löwenmensch Oldest Statue |publisher=VNN World |date=1 January 2004 |url=http://www.vnn.org/world/WD0401/WD01-8500.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325233703/http://www.vnn.org/world/WD0401/WD01-8500.html |archive-date=25 March 2010 }}
</ref>

It is not possible to say what these prehistoric artworks represent. A more recent example is [[The Sorcerer (cave art)|The Sorcerer]], an enigmatic cave painting from the [[Trois Frères|Trois-Frères Cave]], Ariège, France: the figure's significance is unknown, but it is usually interpreted as some kind of great spirit or master of the animals. In either case there is an element of anthropomorphism.

This anthropomorphic art has been linked by archaeologist [[Steven Mithen]] with the emergence of more systematic hunting practices in the Upper Palaeolithic.{{sfn|Mithen|1998}} He proposes that these are the product of a change in the [[Modularity of mind|architecture of the human mind]], {{Clarify | text = an increasing [[Steven Mithen#Cognitive fluidity|fluidity]] between the natural history and social [[Multiple intelligences|intelligences]] | date = November 2021 | reason = What's the meaning of 'increasing cognitive fluidity between the natural history and social intelligences'?}}, where anthropomorphism allowed hunters to identify [[Empathy|empathetically]] with hunted animals and better predict their movements.{{efn|In the ''[[New York Review of Books]]'', [[Howard Gardner|Gardner]] opined that "I find most convincing Mithen's claim that human intelligence lies in the capacity to make connections: through using metaphors".<ref>{{citation |contribution=Thinking About Thinking |first=Howard |last=Gardner |author-link=Howard Gardner |title= New York Review of Books |date=9 October 1997 |url=http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Gardner_on_Mithen.html |access-date=8 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329103807/http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Gardner_on_Mithen.html | archive-date=29 March 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

==In religion and mythology==
{{see also|Euhemerism|Anthropomorphism and corporealism in Islam}}

In religion and mythology, anthropomorphism is the perception of a divine being or beings in human form, or the recognition of human qualities in these beings.

Ancient mythologies frequently represented the divine as deities with human forms and qualities. They resemble human beings not only in appearance and personality; they exhibited many human behaviors that were used to explain natural phenomena, creation, and historical events. The deities fell in love, married, had children, fought battles, wielded weapons, and rode horses and chariots. They feasted on special foods, and sometimes required sacrifices of food, beverage, and sacred objects to be made by human beings. Some anthropomorphic deities represented specific human concepts, such as love, war, fertility, beauty, or the seasons. Anthropomorphic deities exhibited human qualities such as [[beauty]], [[wisdom]], and [[Power (international relations)|power]], and sometimes human weaknesses such as [[greed]], [[hatred]], [[jealousy]], and [[anger|uncontrollable anger]]. Greek deities such as [[Zeus]] and [[Apollo (god)|Apollo]] often were depicted in human form exhibiting both commendable and despicable human traits. Anthropomorphism in this case is, more specifically, [[anthropotheism]].<ref>{{cite web |title=anthropotheism |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Anthropotheism |year=2008 |work=Ologies & -Isms |publisher=The Gale Group, Inc. |access-date=23 August 2009 |archive-date=6 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606115040/http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Anthropotheism |url-status=live }}</ref>

From the perspective of adherents to religions in which humans were created in the form of the divine, the phenomenon may be considered [[theomorphism]], or the giving of divine qualities to humans.

Anthropomorphism has cropped up as a [[Christian heresy]], particularly prominently with [[Audianism]] in third-century Syria, but also fourth-century Egypt and tenth-century Italy.<ref>{{Cite CE1913 |wstitle=Anthropomorphism |first=James Joseph |last=Fox |volume=1}}</ref>  This often was based on a literal interpretation of the [[Genesis creation myth]]: "So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them".<ref name="1728Cyclopedia">{{1728|title=Anthropomorphite|url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/HistSciTech/HistSciTech-idx?type=turn&entity=HistSciTech.Cyclopaedia01.p0147&id=HistSciTech.Cyclopaedia01&isize=L|no-prescript=1}}</ref>

[[Hindus]] do not reject the concept of a deity in the abstract unmanifested, but note practical problems. The ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'', Chapter 12, Verse 5, states that it is much more difficult for people to focus on a deity that is [[Nirguna|unmanifested]] than one with [[Saguna brahman|form]], remarking on the usage of anthropomorphic [[Icon|icons]] ([[Murti|murtis]]) that adherents can perceive with their senses.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fowler |first=Jeanne D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RmGKHu20hA0C&q=Hinduism+murtis+shiva+linga&pg=PA42 |title=Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-1898723608 |pages=42–43}}{{Dead link|date=June 2023|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Narayan |first=M. K. V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ewRfp4qpvt4C&q=Hinduism+murtis+saligrama&pg=PA84 |title=Flipside of Hindu Symbolism |publisher=Fultus |year=2007 |isbn=978-1596821170 |pages=84–85 |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813203006/https://books.google.com/books?id=ewRfp4qpvt4C&q=Hinduism+murtis+saligrama&pg=PA84 |archive-date=13 August 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Criticism===
Some religions, scholars, and philosophers objected to anthropomorphic deities. The earliest known criticism was that of the Greek philosopher [[Xenophanes]] (570–480 BCE) who observed that people model their gods after themselves. He argued against the conception of deities as fundamentally anthropomorphic:
{{blockquote|But if cattle and horses and lions had hands<br />or could paint with their hands and create works such as men do,<br />horses like horses and cattle like cattle<br />also would depict the gods' shapes and make their bodies<br />of such a sort as the form they themselves have.<br />...<br />[[People of Ethiopia|Ethiopians]] say that their gods are snub–nosed [{{lang|grc|σιμούς}}] and black<br />[[Thracians]] that they are pale and red-haired.<ref>Diels-Kranz, ''Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker'', Xenophanes frr. 15–16.</ref>{{efn|Many other translations of this passage have Xenophanes state that the Thracians were "blond".}}}} Xenophanes said that "the greatest god" resembles man "neither in form nor in mind".<ref name="Xenophanes god quote">[[Clement of Alexandria]], ''Miscellanies'' V xiv 109.1–3</ref>

Both Judaism and Islam reject an anthropomorphic deity, believing that God is beyond human comprehension. Judaism's rejection of an anthropomorphic deity began with the [[Nevi'im|prophets]], who explicitly rejected any likeness of God to humans.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ANTHROPOMORPHISM - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1574-anthropomorphism#anchor2 |access-date=2022-08-08 |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com |archive-date=8 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808205025/https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1574-anthropomorphism#anchor2 |url-status=live }}</ref> Their rejection grew further after the [[Islamic Golden Age]] in the tenth century, which [[Maimonides]] codified in the twelfth century, in his thirteen principles of Jewish faith.{{efn|[[Moses Maimonides]] quoted [[Rabbi]] [[Abraham Ben David]]: "It is stated in the Torah and books of the prophets that God has no body, as stated 'Since G-d your God is the god ({{abbr|lit.|literally}} ''gods'') in the heavens above and in the earth below" and a body cannot be in both places. And it was said 'Since you have not seen any image' and it was said 'To who would you compare me, and I would be equal to them?' and if he was a body, he would be like the other bodies."<ref>{{citation |last=Maimonides |first=Moses |author-link=Moses Maimonides |title=Book of Science |contribution=Fundamentals of Torah, Ch. 1, § 8 }}</ref>}}

In the [[Isma'ilism|Ismaili]] interpretation of [[Islam]], assigning attributes to God as well as negating any attributes from God (''[[Apophatic theology|via negativa]]'') both qualify as anthropomorphism and are rejected, as God cannot be understood by either assigning attributes to Him or taking them away. The 10th-century Ismaili philosopher [[Abu Yaqub al-Sijistani]] suggested the method of double negation; for example: "God is not existent" followed by "God is not non-existent". This glorifies God from any understanding or human comprehension.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Virani|first=Shafique N.|date=2010|title=The Right Path: A Post-Mongol Persian Ismaili Treatise|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00210860903541988|journal=Iranian Studies|volume=43|issue=2|pages=197–221|doi=10.1080/00210860903541988|s2cid=170748666|issn=0021-0862|access-date=17 November 2020|archive-date=13 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813203006/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00210860903541988|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In secular thought, one of the most notable criticisms began in 1600 with [[Francis Bacon]], who argued against [[Aristotle]]'s [[teleology]], which declared that everything behaves as it does in order to achieve some end, in order to fulfill itself.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Anthropomorphism, Anecdotes, and Animals|url=https://archive.org/details/anthropomorphism00mitc_634|url-access=limited|last1=Mitchell|first1=Robert|last2=Thompson|first2=Nicholas|last3=Miles|first3=Lyn|publisher=State University of New York Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0791431252|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/anthropomorphism00mitc_634/page/n71 51]}}</ref> Bacon pointed out that achieving ends is a human activity and to attribute it to nature misconstrues it as humanlike.<ref name=":2" /> Modern criticisms followed Bacon's ideas such as critiques of [[Baruch Spinoza]] and [[David Hume]]. The latter, for instance, embedded his arguments in his wider criticism of human religions and specifically demonstrated in what he cited as their "inconsistence" where, on one hand, the Deity is painted in the most sublime colors but, on the other, is degraded to nearly human levels by giving him human infirmities, passions, and prejudices.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Hume's Critique of Religion: 'Sick Men's Dreams'|last1=Bailey|first1=Alan|last2=O'Brien|first2=Dan|publisher=Springer Science+Business Media|year=2014|isbn=9789400766143|location=Dordrecht|pages=172}}</ref> In ''Faces in the Clouds'', anthropologist Stewart Guthrie proposes that all religions are anthropomorphisms that originate in the brain's tendency to detect the presence or vestiges of other humans in natural phenomena.<ref name="SE Guthrie religion ref">{{cite book
| last=Guthrie
| first=Stewart E.
| title=Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion
| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dZNAQh6TuwIC&q=Faces+in+the+Clouds:+A+New+Theory+of+Religion
| publisher=Oxford University Press
| page=7
| year=1995
| isbn=978-0-19-509891-4
| access-date=8 November 2020
| archive-date=13 August 2021
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813203007/https://books.google.com/books?id=dZNAQh6TuwIC&q=Faces+in+the+Clouds%3A+A+New+Theory+of+Religion
| url-status=live
}}</ref>

Some scholars argue that anthropomorphism overestimates the similarity of humans and nonhumans and therefore could not yield accurate accounts.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Animal Ethics Reader, 3rd edition|last1=Armstrong|first1=Susan|last2=Botzler|first2=Richard|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|isbn=9781138918009|location=Oxon|pages=91}}</ref>

==In literature==

===Religious texts===
There are various examples of [[personification in the Bible|personification in both the Hebrew Bible and Christian New Testament]]s, as well as in the texts of some other religions.

===Fables===
[[File:Syrischer Maler von 1354 001.jpg|thumb|From the [[Panchatantra]]: Rabbit fools Elephant by showing the reflection of the moon.]]
Anthropomorphism, also referred to as personification, is a well-established [[literary device]] from ancient times. The story of "[[The Hawk and the Nightingale]]" in [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Works and Days]]'' preceded [[Aesop]]'s [[Aesop's Fables|fables]] by centuries. Collections of linked [[fables]] from India, the ''[[Jataka tales|Jataka Tales]]'' and ''[[Panchatantra]]'', also employ anthropomorphized animals to illustrate principles of life. Many of the stereotypes of animals that are recognized today, such as the wily fox and the proud lion, can be found in these collections. [[Aesop]]'s anthropomorphisms were so familiar by the first century CE that they colored the thinking of at least one philosopher:

{{blockquote|And there is another charm about him, namely, that he puts animals in a pleasing light and makes them interesting to mankind. For after being brought up from childhood with these stories, and after being as it were nursed by them from babyhood, we acquire certain opinions of the several animals and think of some of them as royal animals, of others as silly, of others as witty, and others as innocent.|[[Apollonius of Tyana]]<ref name="Apollonius" />}}

Apollonius noted that the fable was created to teach wisdom through fictions that are meant to be taken as fictions, contrasting them favorably with the poets' stories of the [[Greek mythology|deities]] that are sometimes taken literally. Aesop, "by announcing a story which everyone knows not to be true, told the truth by the very fact that he did not claim to be relating real events".<ref name="Apollonius">Philostratus, Flavius (c. 210 CE). ''[https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_5_11.html The Life of Apollonius] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212405/http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_5_11.html |date=3 March 2016 }}'', 5.14. Translated by F.C. Conybeare. the Loeb Classical Library (1912)</ref> The same consciousness of the fable as fiction is to be found in other examples across the world, one example being a traditional Ashanti way of beginning tales of the anthropomorphic [[trickster]]-spider [[Anansi]]: "We do not really mean, we do not really mean that what we are about to say is true. A story, a story; let it come, let it go."<ref>{{cite journal
  | author = Kwesi Yankah
  | title = The Akan Trickster Cycle: Myth or Folktale?
  | publisher = Trinidad University of the West Indies
  | year = 1983
  | url = https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/2022/125/1/Akan_Yankah.pdf
  | journal =
  | access-date = 6 May 2010
  | archive-date = 10 December 2008
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081210072211/https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/2022/125/1/Akan_Yankah.pdf
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref>

===Fairy tales===
Anthropomorphic motifs have been common in fairy tales from the earliest ancient examples set in a mythological context to the great collections of the [[Grimm's Fairy Tales|Brothers Grimm]] and [[Charles Perrault|Perrault]]. The ''[[Tale of Two Brothers]]'' (Egypt, 13th century BCE) features several talking cows and in ''[[Cupid and Psyche]]'' (Rome, 2nd century CE) [[Zephyrus]], the west wind, carries [[Cupid and Psyche|Psyche]] away. Later an [[ant]] feels sorry for her and helps her in her quest.

===Modern literature===
[[File:Down the Rabbit Hole.png|thumb|upright|[[John Tenniel|John Tenniel']]s depiction of [[White Rabbit|this anthropomorphic rabbit]] was featured in the first chapter of [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]''.]]
[[File:Butterfly meeting.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|From ''The Emperor's Rout'' (1831)]]
Building on the popularity of fables and fairy tales, [[Children's literature|''children's'' literature]] began to emerge in the nineteenth century with works such as ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' (1865) by [[Lewis Carroll]], ''[[The Adventures of Pinocchio]]'' (1883) by [[Carlo Collodi]] and ''[[The Jungle Book]]'' (1894) by [[Rudyard Kipling]], all employing anthropomorphic elements. This continued in the twentieth century with many of the most popular titles having anthropomorphic characters,<ref name="top50">{{cite news|title= The top 50 children's books|newspaper= The Telegraph|date= 22 February 2008|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1579457/The-top-50-childrens-books.html|access-date= 2 April 2018|archive-date= 6 December 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191206042716/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1579457/The-top-50-childrens-books.html|url-status= live}} and
{{cite news|title= Narnia triumphs over Harry Potter|author= Sophie Borland|newspaper= The Telegraph|date= 22 February 2008|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1579456/Narnia-triumphs-over-Harry-Potter.html|access-date= 2 April 2018|archive-date= 6 December 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191206042720/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1579456/Narnia-triumphs-over-Harry-Potter.html|url-status= live}}</ref> examples being ''[[The Tale of Peter Rabbit]]'' (1901) and later books by [[Beatrix Potter]];{{efn|The [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] wrote: "Beatrix Potter is still one of the world's best-selling and best-loved children's authors. Potter wrote and illustrated a total of 28 books, including the 23 Tales, the 'little books' that have been translated into more than 35 languages and sold over 100 million copies."<ref>{{citation |contribution=Beatrix Potter |contribution-url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/prints_books/features/potter/index.html |title=''Official website'' |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk |publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum |access-date=2 June 2010 |archive-date=23 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223114502/http://www.vam.ac.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}} ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]'' by [[Kenneth Grahame]] (1908); ''[[Winnie-the-Pooh (book)|Winnie-the-Pooh]]'' (1926) and ''[[The House at Pooh Corner]]'' (1928) by [[A. A. Milne]]; and ''[[The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe]]'' (1950) and the subsequent books in ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' series by [[C. S. Lewis]].

In many of these stories the animals can be seen as representing facets of human personality and character.<ref name = "gamble">{{cite book|last1=Gamble|first1=Nikki|last2= Yates|first2= Sally|title=Exploring Children's Literature|year=2008|publisher=Sage Publications Ltd|isbn=978-1-4129-3013-0}}</ref> As [[John Rowe Townsend]] remarks, discussing ''The Jungle Book'' in which the boy [[Mowgli]] must rely on his new friends the bear [[Baloo]] and the black panther [[Bagheera]], "The world of the jungle is in fact both itself and our world as well".<ref name = "gamble" /> A notable work aimed at an adult audience is [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Animal Farm]]'', in which all the main characters are anthropomorphic animals. Non-animal examples include [[Wilbert Awdry|Rev. W. Awdry]]'s ''[[The Railway Series|Railway Series]]'' stories featuring [[Thomas the Tank Engine]] and other anthropomorphic [[locomotive]]s.{{Cn|date=April 2025}} Author [[Jilly Cooper]] has been criticised for over-use of the attribution in her novel ''[[Mount!]]<ref name=":42">{{Cite web |last=Radloff |first=Lili |title=Book review: Mount by Jilly Cooper |url=https://www.news24.com/life/book-review-mount-by-jilly-cooper-20160831 |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=Life |language=en-US}}</ref>''

The [[Juvenile fantasy|fantasy]] genre developed from mythological, fairy tale, and [[Romance (heroic literature)|Romance]] motifs<ref>John Grant and John Clute, ''[[The Encyclopedia of Fantasy]]'', p 621, {{ISBN|0-312-19869-8}}</ref> sometimes have anthropomorphic animals as characters. The [[Best selling books|best-selling]] examples of the genre are ''[[The Hobbit]]''<ref>100 million copies sold: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/dorset/7302101.stm BBC] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512175654/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/dorset/7302101.stm |date=12 May 2011 }}: Tolkien's memorabilia go on sale. 18 March 2008</ref> (1937) and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''{{efn|150 million sold, a 2007 estimate of copies of the full story sold, whether published as one volume, three, or some other configuration.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/203389 |title=The Toronto Star |date=16 April 2007 |access-date=24 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110309035210/http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/203389 |archive-date=9 March 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}} (1954–1955), both by [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], books peopled with talking creatures such as ravens, spiders, and the dragon [[Smaug]] and a multitude of anthropomorphic [[goblins]] and [[elves]]. John D. Rateliff calls this the "[[Doctor Dolittle]] Theme" in his book ''The History of the Hobbit''<ref>{{Cite book |title= The History of the Hobbit: Return to Bag-end|last= Rateliff|first= John D.|year= 2007|publisher= [[HarperCollins]]|location= London|isbn= 978-0-00-723555-1|page=654}}</ref> and Tolkien saw this anthropomorphism as closely linked to the emergence of human language and [[myth]]: "...The first men to talk of 'trees and stars' saw things very differently. To them, the world was alive with mythological beings... To them the whole of creation was 'myth-woven and elf-patterned'."<ref>{{cite book | title = The Inklings: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams and Their Friends | last = Carpenter | first = Humphrey | year = 1979 | isbn = 978-0-395-27628-0 | page = [https://archive.org/details/inklingscslewisj00carp/page/43 43] | publisher = Houghton Mifflin | location = Boston | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/inklingscslewisj00carp/page/43 }}</ref>

[[Richard Adams]] developed a distinctive take on anthropomorphic writing in the 1970s: his debut novel, ''[[Watership Down]]'' (1972), featured rabbits that could talk{{mdash}}with their own distinctive language ([[Lapine language|Lapine]]) and mythology{{mdash}}and included a [[police state|police-state]] warren, [[Efrafa]]. Despite this, Adams attempted to ensure his characters' behavior mirrored that of wild rabbits, engaging in fighting, copulating and defecating, drawing on [[Ronald Lockley]]'s study ''The Private Life of the Rabbit'' as research. Adams returned to anthropomorphic storytelling in his later novels ''[[The Plague Dogs (novel)|The Plague Dogs]]'' (1977) and ''[[Traveller (novel)|Traveller]]'' (1988).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Pallardy |first=Richard |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |title=Richard Adams |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Adams |access-date=24 June 2016 |date=14 January 2016 |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |location=[[Chicago, IL]] |archive-date=22 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422113918/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Adams |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/dec/19/comfort-reading-richard-adams-watership-down |title=Watership Down by Richard Adams: A tale of courage, loyalty, language |last1=Levy |first1=Keren |date=19 December 2013 |website=[[theguardian.com]] |access-date=24 June 2016 |archive-date=20 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820225903/https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/dec/19/comfort-reading-richard-adams-watership-down |url-status=live }}</ref>

By the 21st century, the children's [[picture book]] market had expanded massively.{{efn|It is estimated that the UK market for children's books was worth [[GBP|£]]672m in 2004.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20051109005381/en/Childrens-Picture-Book-Market-UK-Declined-20 |title=''"The Value of the Children's Picture Book Market"'' |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609101641/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20051109005381/en/Childrens-Picture-Book-Market-UK-Declined-20 |archive-date=9 June 2016 |date=2005-11-09 }}</ref>}} Perhaps a majority of picture books have some kind of anthropomorphism,<ref name="top50" /><ref>{{cite news|title= Why we're all animal lovers|author= Ben Myers|newspaper= The Guardian|date= 10 June 2008|url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/jun/10/whywereallanimallovers|access-date= 11 December 2016|archive-date= 18 January 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170118072535/https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/jun/10/whywereallanimallovers|url-status= live}}</ref> with popular examples being ''[[The Very Hungry Caterpillar]]'' (1969) by [[Eric Carle]] and ''[[The Gruffalo]]'' (1999) by [[Julia Donaldson]].

Anthropomorphism in literature and other media led to a sub-culture known as [[furry fandom]], which promotes and creates stories and artwork involving anthropomorphic animals, and the examination and interpretation of humanity through anthropomorphism. This can often be shortened in searches as "anthro", used by some as an alternative term to "furry".<ref>{{cite book|last=Patten|first=Fred|author-link= Fred Patten|year=2006|title=Furry! The World's Best Anthropomorphic Fiction|pages=427–436|publisher=ibooks|isbn=978-1-59687-319-3}}</ref>

Anthropomorphic characters have also been a staple of the [[comic book]] genre. The most prominent one was [[Neil Gaiman]]'s the ''[[The Sandman (Vertigo)|Sandman]]'' which had a huge impact on how characters that are physical embodiments are written in the [[fantasy]] genre.<ref name="Geek">{{cite web |url= http://www.denofgeek.us/books-comics/the-sandman/218867/the-sandman-the-essential-horror-comic-of-the-nineties|title= ''The Sandman'': The Essential Horror Comic of the Nineties|first=  Marc|last= Buxton|date= 30 October 2013|publisher= Den of Geek|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131103220936/http://www.denofgeek.us/books-comics/the-sandman/218867/the-sandman-the-essential-horror-comic-of-the-nineties|archive-date= 3 November 2013|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="Marc">{{cite web |url= http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=50526|title= By Crom! The 10 Greatest Fantasy Comics of All-Time|first= Marc|last= Buxton|date= 26 January 2014|website= Comic Book Resources|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140409194641/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=50526|archive-date= 9 April 2014|url-status= live}} Archive requires scrolldown</ref> Other examples also include the mature ''[[Hellblazer]]'' (personified political and moral ideas),<ref name="Social">{{cite web |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?id=54149&page=article |title=Hellblazer's past weighs in on Constantine's future |author=Josie Campbell |website=[[Comic Book Resources]] |date=22 July 2014 |access-date=14 October 2014 |archive-date=8 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008015201/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=54149 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Fables (comics)|Fables]]'' and its spin-off series ''[[Jack of Fables]]'', which was unique for having anthropomorphic representation of [[literary techniques]] and [[genre]]s.<ref name="Boing">{{cite web|url=http://boingboing.net/2010/03/25/great-fables-crossov.html|title=Great Fables Crossover: Fables goes even more meta, stays just as rollicking|publisher=Boing|author=Doctorow, Cory|date=25 March 2010|access-date=22 February 2016|archive-date=2 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302194927/http://boingboing.net/2010/03/25/great-fables-crossov.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Various Japanese [[manga]] and [[anime]] have used anthropomorphism as the basis of their story. Examples include ''[[Squid Girl]]'' (anthropomorphized squid), ''[[Hetalia: Axis Powers]]'' (personified countries), ''[[Upotte!!]]'' (personified guns), ''[[Arpeggio of Blue Steel]]'' and ''[[Kancolle]]'' (personified ships).

==In film==
[[File:Big Buck Bunny 4K.webm|thumb|thumbtime=116|''[[Big Buck Bunny]]'' is a [[Open-source film|free]] animated short featuring anthropomorphic characters.]]
Some of the most notable examples are the [[Walt Disney]] characters [[Mickey Mouse]], [[Donald Duck]], [[Goofy]], and [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]]; the [[Looney Tunes]] characters [[Bugs Bunny]], [[Daffy Duck]], and [[Porky Pig]]; and an array of others from the 1920s to the present day.

In the [[Pixar|Disney/Pixar]] franchises [[Cars (franchise)|''Cars'']] and [[Planes (franchise)|''Planes'']], all the characters are anthropomorphic vehicles,<ref name="Laurie 2015">{{Citation | title= Becoming-Animal Is A Trap For Humans | first= Timothy | last= Laurie | journal= Deleuze and the Non-Human | year= 2015 | url= https://www.academia.edu/10912960 | access-date= 23 June 2015 | archive-date= 13 August 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210813203008/https://www.academia.edu/10912960 | url-status= live }} eds. Hannah Stark and Jon Roffe.</ref> while in [[Toy Story (franchise)|''Toy Story'']], they are anthropomorphic toys. Other Pixar franchises like [[Monsters, Inc. (franchise)|''Monsters, Inc'']] features anthropomorphic monsters and [[Finding Nemo (franchise)|''Finding Nemo'']] features anthropomorphic sea animals (like fish, sharks, and whales). Discussing anthropomorphic animals from [[DreamWorks Animation|DreamWorks]] franchise [[Madagascar (franchise)|''Madagascar'']], Timothy Laurie suggests that "{{Clarify | text = social differences based on conflict and contradiction are naturalized and made less 'contestable' through the classificatory matrix of human and nonhuman relations | date = November 2021 | reason = This sentence incorporating quote seems totally out of context.  It's probably easier just to drop, but perhaps expanding discussion from the source would work.}}".<ref name="Laurie 2015"/> Other DreamWorks franchises like [[Shrek (franchise)|''Shrek'']] features fairy tale characters, and [[Blue Sky Studios]] of [[20th Century Fox]] franchises like [[Ice Age (franchise)|''Ice Age'']] features anthropomorphic extinct animals. Other characters in ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants (franchise)|SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' features anthropomorphic sea animals as well (like sea sponges, starfish, octopus, crabs, whales, puffer fish, lobsters, and zooplankton).

All of the characters in [[Walt Disney Animation Studios]]' ''[[Zootopia]]'' (2016) are anthropomorphic animals, that is an entirely nonhuman civilization.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=McNary|first=Dave|title=Watch: Disney's 'Zootopia' Trailer Introduces Animal-Run World|url=https://variety.com/2015/film/news/disneys-zootopia-teaser-trailer-1201517794/|magazine=Variety|access-date=18 June 2016|date=11 June 2015|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305051904/http://variety.com/2015/film/news/disneys-zootopia-teaser-trailer-1201517794/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The live-action/animated franchise ''[[Alvin and the Chipmunks in film|Alvin and the Chipmunks]]'' by 20th Century Fox centers around anthropomorphic talkative and singing [[chipmunk]]s. The female singing chipmunks called [[The Chipettes]] are also centered in some of the franchise's films.

==In television==
[[File:DSC09908 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (36386558384).jpg|thumb|Statues of the anthropomorphic turtles of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'']]
Since the 1960s, anthropomorphism has also been represented in various animated television shows such as ''[[Biker Mice From Mars]]'' (1993–1996) and ''[[SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron]]'' (1993–1995).  ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', first aired in 1987, features four pizza-loving anthropomorphic turtles with a great knowledge of ninjutsu, led by their anthropomorphic rat sensei, Master Splinter. [[Nickelodeon]]'s longest running animated TV series ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' (1999–present), revolves around [[SpongeBob SquarePants (character)|SpongeBob]], a yellow [[Sponge|sea sponge]], living in the underwater town of Bikini Bottom with his anthropomorphic marine life friends. [[Cartoon Network]]'s animated series ''[[The Amazing World of Gumball]]'' (2011–2019) are about anthropomorphic animals and inanimate objects. All of the characters in [[Hasbro Studios]]' TV series ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' (2010–2019) are anthropomorphic fantasy creatures, with most of them being [[Pony|ponies]] living in the pony-inhabited land of [[Equestria]]. The [[Netflix]] original series [[Centaurworld]] focuses on a [[warhorse]] who gets transported to a [[Dr. Seuss]]-like world full of centaurs who possess the bottom half of any animal, as opposed to the traditional [[horse]].

In the American animated TV series ''[[Family Guy]]'', one of the show's main characters, [[Brian Griffin|Brian]], is a dog. Brian shows many human characteristics – he walks upright, talks, smokes, and drinks Martinis – but also acts like a normal dog in other ways; for example, he cannot resist chasing a ball and barks at the mailman, believing him to be a threat. In a similar case, ''[[BoJack Horseman]]'', an American [[Netflix]] adult animated black comedy series, takes place in an [[alternative history|alternate world]] where humans and anthropomorphic animals live side by side, and centers around the life of [[BoJack Horseman (character)|BoJack Horseman]]; a [[humanoid]] [[horse]] who was a [[one hit wonder]] on a popular 1990s sitcom ''Horsin' Around'', living off the show's [[residual (entertainment industry)|residuals]] in present time. Multiple main characters of the series are other [[animals]] who possess [[Human body|human body form]] and other [[Human behavior|human-like traits and identity]] as well; [[Mr. Peanutbutter]], a humanoid [[dog]] lives a mostly human life{{emdash}}he speaks [[American English]], [[Gait (human)#Walk|walks upright]], owns a [[house]], drives a [[car]], is in a [[Human sexuality|romantic relationship with a human woman]] (in this series, as animals and humans are [[speciesism|seen as equal]], relationships like this are not seen as [[bestiality]] but seen as regular [[human sexuality]]), [[Diane Nguyen|Diane]], and has a successful career in television{{emdash}}however also exhibits [[Dog behavior|dog traits]]{{emdash}}he sleeps in a human-size [[dog bed]], gets [[arrested]] for having a [[drag race]] with the mailman and is once forced to wear a [[Elizabethan collar|dog cone]] after he gets stitches in his arm.

The [[PBS Kids]] animated series ''[[Let's Go Luna!]]'' centers on an anthropomorphic female Moon who speaks, sings, and dances. She comes down out of the sky to serve as a tutor of international culture to the three main characters: a boy frog and wombat and a girl butterfly, who are supposed to be preschool children traveling a world populated by anthropomorphic animals with a circus run by their parents.

The French-Belgian animated series ''Mush-Mush & the Mushables'' takes place in a world inhabited by Mushables, which are anthropomorphic fungi, along with other critters such as [[beetle]]s, [[snail]]s, and [[frog]]s.

==In video games==
{{see also|Animals in video games}}
[[File:Armello - 'Horrors & Heroes' Trailer.webm|thumb|thumbtime=89|In ''[[Armello]]'', anthropomorphic animals battle for control of the animal kingdom.]]
''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', a [[video game franchise]] debuting in 1991, features a [[Sonic the Hedgehog (character)|speedy blue hedgehog]] as the main protagonist. This series' characters are almost all anthropomorphic animals such as foxes, cats, and other hedgehogs who are able to speak and walk on their hind legs like normal humans. As with most anthropomorphisms of animals, clothing is of little or no importance, where some characters may be fully clothed while some wear only shoes and gloves.

Another popular example in video games is the ''[[Super Mario]]'' series, debuting in 1985 with ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'', of which main antagonist includes a fictional species of anthropomorphic [[turtle]]-like creatures known as [[Koopa Troopa|Koopas]]. Other games in the series, as well as of other of its greater ''[[Mario (franchise)|Mario]]'' franchise, spawned similar characters such as [[Yoshi]], [[Donkey Kong (character)|Donkey Kong]] and [[List of Mario franchise characters|many others]].

==Art history==
[[File:Arcimboldo Agua.jpg|thumb|upright|Anthropomorphic [[pareidolia]] by [[Giuseppe Arcimboldo]]]]

===Claes Oldenburg===
[[Claes Oldenburg]]'s soft sculptures are commonly described as anthropomorphic.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oldenburg |first1=Claes |title=Ice Bag |url=https://pulitzerarts.org/feature/claes-oldenburg-ice-bag-scale-b-1971/ |website=Pulitzer Arts Foundation |access-date=12 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Glueck |first1=Grace |title=ART REVIEW; From Everyday Objects, Oldenburg's Ideas for Sassy Sculptures |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/28/arts/art-review-from-everyday-objects-oldenburg-s-ideas-for-sassy-sculptures.html |website=New York Times |access-date=12 November 2024}}</ref> Depicting common household objects, Oldenburg's sculptures were considered [[Pop Art]]. Reproducing these objects, often at a greater size than the original, Oldenburg created his sculptures out of soft materials. The anthropomorphic qualities of the sculptures were mainly in their sagging and malleable exterior which mirrored the not-so-idealistic forms of the human body. In "Soft Light Switches" Oldenburg creates a household light switch out of vinyl. The two identical switches, in a dulled orange, insinuate nipples. The soft vinyl references the aging process as the sculpture wrinkles and sinks with time.

===Minimalism===
In the essay "Art and Objecthood", [[Michael Fried]] makes the case that "[[literalist art]]" ([[minimalism]]) becomes theatrical by means of anthropomorphism. The viewer engages the minimalist work, not as an autonomous art object, but as a theatrical interaction. Fried references a conversation in which [[Tony Smith (sculptor)|Tony Smith]] answers questions about his six-foot cube, "Die".

{{Blockquote|text=Q: Why didn't you make it larger so that it would loom over the observer?

A: I was not making a monument.

Q: Then why didn't you make it smaller so that the observer could see over the top?

A: I was not making an object.}}

Fried implies an anthropomorphic connection by means of "a surrogate person{{Snd}}that is, a kind of statue."

The minimalist decision of "hollowness" in much of their work was also considered by Fried to be "blatantly anthropomorphic". This "hollowness" contributes to the idea of a separate inside; an idea mirrored in the human form. Fried considers the Literalist art's "hollowness" to be "biomorphic" as it references a living organism.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fried|first=Michael|title=Art and Objecthood|year=1998|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-26319-9}}</ref>

===Post-minimalism===
Curator [[Lucy Lippard]]'s Eccentric Abstraction show, in 1966, sets up [[Briony Fer]]'s writing of a post-minimalist anthropomorphism. Reacting to Fried's interpretation of minimalist art's "looming presence of objects which appear as actors might on a stage", Fer interprets the artists in Eccentric Abstraction to a new form of anthropomorphism. She puts forth the thoughts of Surrealist writer [[Roger Caillois]], who speaks of the "spacial lure of the subject, the way in which the subject could inhabit their surroundings."  Caillous uses the example of an insect who "through camouflage does so in order to become invisible... and loses its distinctness." For Fer, the anthropomorphic qualities of imitation found in the erotic, organic sculptures of artists [[Eva Hesse]] and [[Louise Bourgeois]], are not necessarily for strictly "mimetic" purposes. Instead, like the insect, the work must come into being in the "scopic field... which we cannot view from outside."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fer|first=Briony|title=Objects Beyond Objecthood|journal=Oxford Art Journal|year=1999|volume=22|issue=2|pages=25–36|doi=10.1093/oxartj/22.2.25}}</ref>

== Mascots ==
[[File:Fatso at Olympic Park.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|[[Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat]], a popular symbol of the [[Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics]] created as a parody of the [[Olly, Syd and Millie|commercial official mascots]]]]
{{main|Mascot|List of mascots}}
For [[Promotional merchandise|branding]], [[merchandising]], and [[public relations|representation]], figures known as [[mascot]]s are now often employed to personify [[team sports|sports teams]], [[corporations]], and major events such as the [[World's Fair]] and the [[List of Olympic mascots|Olympics]]. These personifications may be simple human or animal figures, such as [[Ronald McDonald]] or the [[Democratic Party (United States)#Name and symbols|donkey]] that represents the United States's [[Democratic Party (US)|Democratic Party]]. Other times, they are anthropomorphic items, such as "[[Clippit|Clippy]]" or the "[[Michelin Man]]". Most often, they are anthropomorphic animals such as the [[Energizer Bunny]] or the [[San Diego Chicken]].

The practice is particularly widespread in Japan, where cities, regions, and companies all have mascots, collectively known as ''[[yuru-chara]]''. Two of the most popular are [[Kumamon]] (a bear who represents [[Kumamoto Prefecture]])<ref>{{citation |url=http://kumamon-official.jp/ |title=''Official website'' |access-date=9 August 2015 |archive-date=20 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420125614/https://kumamon-official.jp/ |url-status=live }}. {{in lang|ja}}</ref> and [[Funassyi]] (a [[Japanese pear|pear]] who represents [[Funabashi, Chiba|Funabashi]], a suburb of [[Tokyo]]).<ref>{{citation |url=http://terawarosu.jimdo.com/ |title=''Official website'' |access-date=9 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107112421/http://terawarosu.jimdo.com/ |archive-date=7 January 2014 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}. {{in lang|ja}}</ref>

== Animals ==
{{see also|Talking animal|Talking animals in fiction}}
[[File:Fernand Khnopff - Caresses - Google Art Project.jpg|upright=2|thumb|right|''[[Caress of the Sphinx]]''|alt=The painting ''The Caress'' depicting a creature with a woman's head and a cheetah's body]]
Other examples of anthropomorphism include the attribution of human traits to animals, especially domesticated pets such as dogs and cats. Examples of this include thinking a dog is smiling simply because it is showing his teeth,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Woods |first1=John |title=Do Dogs Really Smile? The Science Explained |url=https://www.allthingsdogs.com/do-dogs-smile/ |website=AllThingsDogs |date=28 September 2018 |access-date=18 March 2021 |archive-date=11 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411021021/https://www.allthingsdogs.com/do-dogs-smile/ |url-status=live }}</ref> or a cat mourns for a dead owner.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Filion |first1=Daniel |title=Anthropomorphism: when we love our pets too much |url=https://educhateur.com/en/anthropomorphism/ |website=Educator |date=22 January 2020 |access-date=18 March 2021 |archive-date=4 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304162341/https://educhateur.com/en/anthropomorphism/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Anthropomorphism may be beneficial to the welfare of animals. A 2012 study by Butterfield ''et al.'' found that utilizing anthropomorphic language when describing dogs created a greater willingness to help them in situations of distress.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Butterfield |first1=M. E. |last2=Hill |first2=S. E. |last3=Lord |first3=C. G. |year=2012 |title=Mangy mutt or furry friend? Anthropomorphism promotes animal welfare |journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=957–960 |doi=10.1016/j.jesp.2012.02.010 }}</ref> Previous studies have shown that individuals who attribute human characteristics to animals are less willing to eat them,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bastian |first1=B. |last2=Loughnan |first2=S. |last3=Haslam |first3=N. |last4=Radke |first4=H. R. |s2cid=22757046 |year=2012 |title=Don't mind meat? The denial of mind to animals used for human consumption |journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=247–256 |doi=10.1177/0146167211424291 |pmid=21980158 }}</ref> and that the degree to which individuals perceive minds in other animals predicts the moral concern afforded to them.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gray |first1=H. M. |last2=Gray |first2=K. |last3=Wegner |first3=D. M. |s2cid=31773170 |year=2007 |title=Dimensions of Mind Perception |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=315 |issue=5812 |page=619 |doi=10.1126/science.1134475 |pmid=17272713 |bibcode=2007Sci...315..619G }}</ref> It is possible that anthropomorphism leads humans to like non-humans more when they have apparent human qualities, since perceived similarity has been shown to increase prosocial behavior toward other humans.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Burger |first1=J. M. |last2=Messian |first2=N. |last3=Patel |first3=S. |last4=del Prado |first4=A. |last5=Anderson |first5=C. |s2cid=2109021 |year=2004 |title=What a coincidence! The effects of incidental similarity on compliance |journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=35–43 |doi=10.1177/0146167203258838 |pmid=15030641 }}</ref> A study of how animal behaviors were discussed on the television series ''Life'' found that the script very often used anthropomorphisms.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sealey |first1=Alison |last2=Oakley |first2=Lee |date=24 May 2013 |title=Anthropomorphic grammar? Some linguistic patterns in the wildlife documentary series Life |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/text-2013-0017/html |journal=Text & Talk |language=en |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=399–420 |doi=10.1515/text-2013-0017 |issn=1860-7349}}</ref>

==In science==
In science, the use of anthropomorphic language that suggests animals have intentions and emotions has traditionally been deprecated as indicating a lack of [[Objectivity (science)|objectivity]]. [[Biologist]]s have been warned to avoid assumptions that animals share any of the same mental, social, and emotional capacities of humans, and to rely instead on strictly observable evidence.<ref>{{cite journal|doi= 10.1163/156853093X00091|title= Editor's Introduction to Society and Animals|journal= Society & Animals|volume= 1|issue=1|pages= 1–4|year= 1993|last1= Shapiro|first1= Kenneth J.}} Later re-published as an introduction to: {{cite book|title= Social Creatures: A Human and Animal Studies Reader|last= Flynn|first= Cliff|year= 2008|publisher= Lantern Books|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=d6nT4VGleOEC&pg=PA3|isbn= 978-1-59056-123-2|access-date= 24 August 2017|archive-date= 18 May 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190518194450/https://books.google.com/books?id=d6nT4VGleOEC&pg=PA3|url-status= live}}</ref>  In 1927 [[Ivan Pavlov]] wrote that animals should be considered "without any need to resort to fantastic speculations as to the existence of any possible subjective states".<ref>Ryder, Richard. ''Animal Revolution: Changing Attitudes Towards Speciesism''. Berg, 2000, p. 6.</ref> More recently, ''The Oxford companion to animal behaviour'' (1987) advised that "one is well advised to study the behaviour rather than attempting to get at any underlying emotion".<ref>{{harvnb|Masson|McCarthy|1996|p=xviii}}.</ref> Some scientists, like William M Wheeler (writing apologetically of his use of anthropomorphism in 1911), have used anthropomorphic language in metaphor to make subjects more humanly comprehensible or memorable.{{efn|In 1911, [[William Morton Wheeler|Wheeler]] wrote: "The larval insect is, if I may be permitted to lapse for a moment into anthropomorphism, a sluggish, greedy, self-centred creature, while the adult is industrious, abstemious and highly altruistic..."<ref>{{citation |last=Wheeler |first=William Morton |author-link=William Morton Wheeler |date=November 1911 |contribution=Insect parasitism and its peculiarities |title=Popular Science, ''Vol. 79'' |page=443 }}</ref>}}

Despite the impact of [[Charles Darwin]]'s ideas in ''[[The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals]]'' ([[Konrad Lorenz]] in 1965 called him a "[[patron saint]]" of [[ethology]])<ref name="Darwin">{{Cite journal | pmc = 1279921 | pmid = 12042386 |date=Jun 2002 | author = Black, J | title = Darwin in the world of emotions | volume = 95 | issue = 6 | pages = 311–3 | issn = 0141-0768 | journal = Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine | doi = 10.1177/014107680209500617 }}</ref> ethology has generally focused on [[behavior]], not on [[emotion in animals]].<ref name="Darwin" />

{{blockquote|Even insects play together, as has been described by that excellent observer, [[Pierre Huber|P. Huber]], who saw ants chasing and pretending to bite each other, like so many puppies.|[[Charles Darwin]], ''[[The Descent of Man]]''<ref>{{cite book |last=Darwin |first=Charles |title=The Descent of Man |year=1871 |page=39 |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Freeman_TheDescentofMan.html |edition=1st |access-date=6 May 2010 |archive-date=12 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712194932/http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Freeman_TheDescentofMan.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

The study of [[great apes]] in their own environment and in captivity{{efn|In 1946, [[Donald O. Hebb|Hebb]] wrote: "A thoroughgoing attempt to avoid anthropomorphic description in the study of temperament was made over a two-year period at the Yerkes laboratories. All that resulted was an almost endless series of specific acts in which no order or meaning could be found. On the other hand, by the use of frankly anthropomorphic concepts of emotion and attitude one could quickly and easily describe the peculiarities of individual animals... Whatever the anthropomorphic terminology may seem to imply about conscious states in chimpanzee, it provides an intelligible and practical guide to behavior."<ref>{{citation |doi=10.1037/h0063033 |last=Hebb |first=Donald O. |author-link=Donald O. Hebb |year=1946 |title=Emotion in man and animal: An analysis of the intuitive processes of recognition |journal=Psychological Review |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=88–106|pmid= 21023321 }}</ref>}} has changed attitudes to anthropomorphism. In the 1960s the three so-called "[[The Trimates|Leakey's Angels]]", [[Jane Goodall]] studying [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]]s, [[Dian Fossey]] studying [[gorilla]]s and [[Biruté Galdikas]] studying [[orangutan]]s, were all accused of "that worst of ethological sins – anthropomorphism".<ref>{{harvnb|Masson |McCarthy|1996|p=9}}</ref>  The charge was brought about by their descriptions of the great apes in the field; it is now more widely accepted that [[empathy]] has an important part to play in research.

[[Frans de Waal|De Waal]] has written: "To endow animals with human emotions has long been a scientific [[taboo]].  But if we do not, we risk missing something fundamental, about both animals and us."<ref>Frans de Waal (1997-07). [https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/are-we-in-anthropodenial "Are We in Anthropodenial?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202161124/https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/are-we-in-anthropodenial |date=2 December 2019 }}. ''Discover''. pp. 50–53.</ref> Alongside this has come increasing awareness of the [[Great ape language|linguistic abilities]] of the great apes and the recognition that they are tool-makers and have individuality and culture.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Culture extends the scope of evolutionary biology in the great apes |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=2017-07-25 |last=Whiten |first=Andrew |volume=114 |issue=30 |pages=7790–7797 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1620733114 |pmid=28739927 |pmc=5544264 |bibcode=2017PNAS..114.7790W |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Writing of [[cats]] in 1992, veterinarian [[Bruce Fogle]] points to the fact that "both humans and cats have identical [[neurochemicals]] and regions in the brain responsible for emotion" as evidence that "it is not anthropomorphic to credit cats with emotions such as jealousy".<ref>{{cite book|last=Fogle|first=Bruce|author-link=Bruce Fogle|title=If Your Cat Could Talk|year=1992|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|location=London|isbn=9781405319867|page=11|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r17xU3z5SaUC&q=anthropomorphic|access-date=8 November 2020|archive-date=13 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813203008/https://books.google.com/books?id=r17xU3z5SaUC&q=anthropomorphic|url-status=live}}</ref>

== In computing ==
{{anchor|In computing}}

In science fiction, an artificially intelligent computer or robot, even though it has not been programmed with human emotions, often spontaneously experiences those emotions anyway: for example, Agent Smith in ''[[The Matrix (film)|The Matrix]]'' was influenced by a "disgust" toward humanity. This is an example of anthropomorphism: in reality, while an artificial intelligence could perhaps be deliberately programmed with human emotions or could develop something similar to an emotion as a means to an ultimate goal ''if'' it is useful to do so, it would not spontaneously develop human emotions for no purpose whatsoever, as portrayed in fiction.<ref name="yudkowsky-global-risk">Yudkowsky, Eliezer. [https://intelligence.org/files/AIPosNegFactor.pdf "Artificial intelligence as a positive and negative factor in global risk."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302173022/http://intelligence.org/files/AIPosNegFactor.pdf |date=2 March 2013 }} Global catastrophic risks (2008).</ref>

One example of anthropomorphism would be to believe that one's computer is angry at them because they insulted it; another would be to believe that an intelligent robot would naturally find a woman attractive and be driven to mate with her. Scholars sometimes disagree with each other about whether a particular prediction about an artificial intelligence's behavior is logical, or whether the prediction constitutes illogical anthropomorphism.<ref name="yudkowsky-global-risk" /> An example that might initially be considered anthropomorphism, but is in fact a logical statement about an artificial intelligence's behavior, would be the [[Dario Floreano]] experiments where certain robots spontaneously evolved a crude capacity for "deception", and tricked other robots into eating "poison" and dying: here, a trait, "deception", ordinarily associated with people rather than with machines, spontaneously evolves in a type of [[convergent evolution]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Real-Life Decepticons: Robots Learn to Cheat|url=https://www.wired.com/2009/08/real-life-decepticons-robots-learn-to-cheat/|access-date=7 February 2016|work=[[Wired magazine]]|date=18 August 2009|archive-date=7 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207101918/http://www.wired.com/2009/08/real-life-decepticons-robots-learn-to-cheat/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The conscious use of anthropomorphic metaphor is not intrinsically unwise; ascribing mental processes to the computer, under the proper circumstances, may serve the same purpose as it does when humans do it to other people: it may help persons to understand what the computer will do, how their actions will affect the computer, how to compare computers with humans, and conceivably how to design computer programs. However, inappropriate use of anthropomorphic metaphors can result in false beliefs about the behavior of computers, for example by causing people to overestimate how "flexible" computers are.<ref name="metaphor-model">{{cite journal|last1=Marakas |first1=George M.|last2=Johnson |first2=Richard D. |last3=Palmer |first3=Jonathan W. |title=A theoretical model of differential social attributions toward computing technology: when the metaphor becomes the model|journal=International Journal of Human-Computer Studies|date=April 2000|volume=52|issue=4|pages=719–750|doi=10.1006/ijhc.1999.0348}}</ref> According to Paul R. Cohen and [[Edward Feigenbaum]], in order to differentiate between anthropomorphization and logical prediction of AI behavior, "the trick is to know enough about how humans and computers think to say ''exactly'' what they have in common, and, when we lack this knowledge, to use the comparison to ''suggest'' theories of human thinking or computer thinking."<ref>Cohen, Paul R., and Edward A. Feigenbaum, eds. The handbook of artificial intelligence. Vol. 3. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2014.</ref>

Computers overturn the childhood hierarchical taxonomy of "stones (non-living) → plants (living) → animals (conscious) → humans (rational)", by introducing a non-human "actor" that appears to regularly behave rationally. Much of computing terminology derives from anthropomorphic metaphors: computers can "read", "write", or "catch a virus". Information technology presents no clear correspondence with any other entities in the world besides humans; the options are either to leverage an emotional, imprecise human metaphor, or to reject imprecise metaphor and make use of more precise, domain-specific technical terms.<ref name="metaphor-model" />

People often grant an unnecessary social role to computers during interactions. The underlying causes are debated; [[Youngme Moon]] and [[Clifford Nass]] propose that humans are emotionally, intellectually and physiologically biased toward social activity, and so when presented with even tiny social cues, deeply infused social responses are triggered automatically.<ref name="metaphor-model" /><ref>Moon, Youngme, and Clifford Nass. "How 'real' are computer personalities? Psychological responses to personality types in human-computer interaction." Communication research 23.6 (1996): 651–674.</ref> This may allow incorporation of anthropomorphic features into computers/robots to enable more familiar "social" interactions, making them easier to use.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Duffy|first1=Brian R.|title=Anthropomorphism and the social robot|journal=Robotics and Autonomous Systems|date=March 2003|volume=42|issue=3–4|pages=177–190|doi=10.1016/S0921-8890(02)00374-3|citeseerx=10.1.1.59.9969|s2cid=1959145 }}</ref>

Alleged examples of anthropomorphism toward AI have included: Google engineer Blake Lemoine's widely derided 2022 claim that the Google [[LaMDA]] chatbot was [[artificial consciousness|sentient]];<ref>{{cite news |last1=Metz |first1=Rachel |title=No, Google's AI is not sentient |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/13/tech/google-ai-not-sentient/index.html |access-date=5 January 2023 |work=CNN |date=13 June 2022 |language=en |archive-date=15 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615113732/https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/13/tech/google-ai-not-sentient/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the 2017 granting of honorary Saudi Arabian citizenship to the robot [[Sophia (robot)|Sophia]]; and the reactions to the chatbot [[ELIZA]] in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Gary N. |title=An AI that can "write" is feeding delusions about how smart artificial intelligence really is |url=https://www.salon.com/2023/01/01/an-ai-that-can-write-is-feeding-delusions-about-how-smart-artificial-intelligence-really-is/ |access-date=5 January 2023 |work=Salon |date=2 January 2023 |language=en |archive-date=5 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105065932/https://www.salon.com/2023/01/01/an-ai-that-can-write-is-feeding-delusions-about-how-smart-artificial-intelligence-really-is/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Psychology ==

=== Foundational research ===
In psychology, the first [[Empirical research|empirical study]] of anthropomorphism was conducted in 1944 by [[Fritz Heider]] and [[Marianne Simmel]].<ref>{{cite web|title = Fritz Heider & Marianne Simmel: An Experimental Study of Apparent Behavior|url = http://www.all-about-psychology.com/fritz-heider.html|website = Psychology|access-date = 16 November 2015|archive-date = 10 December 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151210174452/http://www.all-about-psychology.com/fritz-heider.html|url-status = live}}</ref> In the first part of this experiment, the researchers showed a 2-and-a-half-minute long animation of several shapes moving around on the screen in varying directions at various speeds. When subjects were asked to describe what they saw, they gave detailed accounts of the intentions and personalities of the shapes. For instance, the large triangle was characterized as a bully, chasing the other two shapes until they could trick the large triangle and escape. The researchers concluded that when people see objects making motions for which there is no obvious cause, they view these objects as intentional agents (individuals that deliberately make choices to achieve goals).

Modern psychologists generally characterize anthropomorphism as a [[cognitive bias]]. That is, anthropomorphism is a cognitive process by which people use their [[Social cognition#Social schemas|schemas]] about other humans as a basis for inferring the properties of non-human entities in order to make efficient judgements about the environment, even if those inferences are not always accurate.<ref name=":0" /> Schemas about humans are used as the basis because this knowledge is acquired early in life, is more detailed than knowledge about non-human entities, and is more readily accessible in memory.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|title = On seeing human: A three-factor theory of anthropomorphism|journal = Psychological Review|pages = 864–886|volume = 114|issue = 4|doi = 10.1037/0033-295x.114.4.864|pmid = 17907867|first1 = Nicholas|last1 = Epley|first2 = Adam|last2 = Waytz|first3 = John T.|last3 = Cacioppo|year = 2007|citeseerx = 10.1.1.457.4031| s2cid=6733517 }}</ref> Anthropomorphism can also function as a strategy to cope with [[loneliness]] when other human connections are not available.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Social Connection and Seeing Human – Oxford Handbooks|journal = The Oxford Handbook of Social Exclusion|url = http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195398700.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195398700-e-23|doi = 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195398700.013.0023|first = Adam|last = Waytz|year = 2013|isbn = 978-0-19-539870-0|access-date = 16 November 2015|archive-date = 17 November 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151117031124/http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195398700.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195398700-e-23|url-status = live|url-access = subscription}}</ref>

=== Three-factor theory ===
Since making inferences requires cognitive effort, anthropomorphism is likely to be triggered only when certain aspects about a person and their environment are true. Psychologist Adam Waytz and his colleagues created a three-factor theory of anthropomorphism to describe these aspects and predict when people are most likely to anthropomorphize.<ref name=":1" /> The three factors are:
* ''Elicited agent knowledge'', or the amount of prior knowledge held about an object and the extent to which that knowledge is called to mind.
* ''Effectance'', or the drive to interact with and understand one's environment.
* ''Sociality'', the need to establish social connections.
When elicited agent knowledge is low and effectance and sociality are high, people are more likely to anthropomorphize. Various dispositional, situational, developmental, and cultural variables can affect these three factors, such as [[need for cognition]], social disconnection, cultural ideologies, [[uncertainty avoidance]], etc.

=== Developmental perspective ===
Children appear to anthropomorphize and use [[Egocentrism|egocentric reasoning]] from an early age and use it more frequently than adults.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Child's Conception of the World: A 20th-Century Classic of Child Psychology|last = Piaget|first = Jean|publisher = Routledge|year = 1929|isbn = 978-0-415-16887-8|location = New York, NY}}</ref> Examples of this are describing a storm cloud as "angry" or drawing flowers with faces. This penchant for anthropomorphism is likely because children have acquired vast amounts of [[socialization]], but not as much experience with specific non-human entities, so thus they have less developed alternative schemas for their environment.<ref name=":1" /> In contrast, [[Autism|autistic children]] may tend to describe anthropomorphized objects in purely mechanical terms (that is, in terms of what they do) because they have difficulties with [[theory of mind]] (ToM) according to past research.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Autism, Asperger syndrome and brain mechanisms for the attribution of mental states to animated shapes|journal = Brain|date = 1 August 2002|issn = 0006-8950|pmid = 12135974|pages = 1839–1849|volume = 125|issue = 8|doi = 10.1093/brain/awf189|first1 = Fulvia|last1 = Castelli|first2 = Chris|last2 = Frith|first3 = Francesca|last3 = Happé|first4 = Uta|last4 = Frith|doi-access = }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Baron-Cohen |first1=Simon |last2=Leslie |first2=Alan M. |last3=Frith |first3=Uta |date=1985-10-01 |title=Does the autistic child have a "theory of mind" ? |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277%2885%2990022-8 |journal=Cognition |language=en |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=37–46 |doi=10.1016/0010-0277(85)90022-8 |pmid=2934210 |s2cid=14955234 |issn=0010-0277 |access-date=22 March 2023 |archive-date=8 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108040022/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0010027785900228 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> A 2018 study has shown that autistic people are more prone to object personification, suggesting that autistic [[empathy]] and ToM may be not only more complex but also more all-encompassing.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=White |first1=Rebekah C |last2=Remington |first2=Anna |date=2018 |title=Object personification in autism: This paper will be very sad if you don't read it |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1362361318793408 |journal=Autism |language=en |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=1042–1045 |doi=10.1177/1362361318793408 |pmid=30101594 |s2cid=51969215 |issn=1362-3613 |access-date=22 March 2023 |archive-date=14 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514100033/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1362361318793408 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[double empathy problem]] challenges the notion that autistic people have difficulties with ToM.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Milton |first=Damian E.M. |date=2012-10-01 |title=On the ontological status of autism: the 'double empathy problem' |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2012.710008 |journal=Disability & Society |volume=27 |issue=6 |pages=883–887 |doi=10.1080/09687599.2012.710008 |s2cid=54047060 |issn=0968-7599}}</ref>

=== Effect on learning ===
Anthropomorphism can be used to assist learning. Specifically, anthropomorphized words<ref>{{Cite journal|title = The Effects of Anthropomorphism on Word Learning|journal = The Journal of Educational Research|date = 1 November 1984|issn = 0022-0671|pages = 105–110|volume = 78|issue = 2|doi = 10.1080/00220671.1984.10885582|first1 = Jay|last1 = Blanchard|first2 = George|last2 = Mcnincth}}</ref> and describing scientific concepts with intentionality<ref>Dorion, K. (2011) [http://ejse.southwestern.edu/article/view/8552 "A Learner's Tactic: How Secondary Students' Anthropomorphic Language may Support Learning of Abstract Science Concepts"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618005925/https://ejse.southwestern.edu/article/view/8552 |date=18 June 2020 }}. ''Electronic Journal of Science Education''. Vol. 12, No. 2.</ref> can improve later recall of these concepts.

=== In mental health ===
In people with [[Depression (clinical)|depression]], [[social anxiety]], or other [[mental illnesses]], [[emotional support animal]]s are a useful component of treatment partially because anthropomorphism of these animals can satisfy the patients' need for social connection.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Pets and Mental Health|last = Cusack|first = Odean|publisher = Routledge|year = 2013|isbn = 978-0-86656-652-0|location = Binghamton, NY}}</ref>

=== In marketing ===
Anthropomorphism of inanimate objects can affect product buying behavior. When products seem to resemble a human schema, such as the front of a car resembling a face, potential buyers evaluate that product more positively than if they do not anthropomorphize the object.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Is That Car Smiling at Me? Schema Congruity as a Basis for Evaluating Anthropomorphized Products|journal = Journal of Consumer Research|date = 1 December 2007|issn = 0093-5301|pages = 468–479|volume = 34|issue = 4|doi = 10.1086/518544|first1 = Pankaj|last1 = Aggarwal|first2 = Ann L.|last2 = McGill|citeseerx = 10.1.1.330.9068}}</ref>

People also tend to trust robots to do more complex tasks such as driving a car or childcare if the robot resembles humans in ways such as having a face, voice, and name; mimicking human motions; expressing emotion; and displaying some variability in behavior.<ref>{{Cite news|title = How to Make Robots Seem Less Creepy|url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-make-robots-seem-less-creepy-1401473812|newspaper = Wall Street Journal|access-date = 16 November 2015|issn = 0099-9660|first1 = Adam|last1 = Waytz|first2 = Michael|last2 = Norton|archive-date = 14 November 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151114094427/http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-make-robots-seem-less-creepy-1401473812|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title = Seeing Human|url = http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/05/anthropomorphizing_driverless_cars_psychology_research_into_autonomous_vehicles.html|newspaper = Slate|date = 13 May 2014|access-date = 16 November 2015|issn = 1091-2339|language = en-US|first = Adam|last = Waytz|archive-date = 17 November 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151117013945/http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/05/anthropomorphizing_driverless_cars_psychology_research_into_autonomous_vehicles.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

==Image gallery==
<gallery>
File:Tram in Almada pic-007.jpg|[[Almada]] tram in smiley livery
File:Visage dans un rocher.jpg|[[Pareidolia]] of a face in a rock
File:Seymore D. Fair, June 1984 Snap Shot.jpg|[[Seymore D. Fair]] 1st-ever World Expo Mascot
File:K plug typical.jpg|A [[AC power plugs and sockets#Type K|Danish electrical socket]] – with its two "eyes" and a "mouth" (all functional parts of the device), forming a pareidolic face
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Children's literature}}
{{col div|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Aniconism]] – antithetic concept
* [[Animism]]
* [[Anthropic principle]]
* [[Anthropocentrism]]
* [[Anthropology]]
* [[Anthropomorphic maps]]
* [[Anthropopathism]]
* [[Cynocephaly]]
* [[Furry fandom]]
* [[Great Chain of Being]]
* [[Human-animal hybrid]]
* [[Humanoid]]
* [[Moe anthropomorphism]]
* [[National personification]]
* [[Nature fakers controversy]]
* [[Pareidolia]] – seeing faces in everyday objects
* [[Pathetic fallacy]]
* [[Prosopopoeia]]
* [[Speciesism]]
* [[Talking animals in fiction]]
* [[Tashbih]]
* [[Zoomorphism]]
{{colend}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last1=Masson |first1=Jeffrey Moussaieff |author-link=Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson |first2=Susan |last2=McCarthy |year=1996 |title=When Elephants Weep: Emotional Lives of Animals |publisher=Vintage |isbn=978-0-09-947891-1 |page=272 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UcbYqb8D4IEC&q=Jane%20Goodall%20controversy&pg=PR19 }}

==Further reading==
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle=Anthropomorphism |volume=2 |pages=123–124 }}
* {{cite EB1911 |first=Robert |last=Mackintosh |wstitle=Anthropomorphism |volume=2 |page=120 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=John S. |title=The New Anthropomorphism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5RjoDMW8pSIC |year=1992 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-42267-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Mithen |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Mithen |year=1998 |title=The Prehistory Of The Mind: A Search for the Origins of Art, Religion and Science  |publisher=Phoenix |isbn=978-0-7538-0204-5 |page= 480|bibcode=1996pmso.book.....M }}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|wikt=anthropomorphism|commons=Category:Anthropomorphism}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100415150207/http://crl.ucsd.edu/~ahorowit/Encyclopedia-anthrop.pdf "Anthropomorphism" entry] in the ''Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships'' (Horowitz A., 2007)
* [http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/anthropomorphism.html "Anthropomorphism" entry in the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Spaceflight]
* [http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/gallery-view?keyword=anthropomorphism "Anthropomorphism" in mid-century American print advertising.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201002923/http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/gallery-view?keyword=anthropomorphism |date=1 December 2021 }} Collection at The Gallery of Graphic Design.
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[[Category:Anthropomorphism| ]]
[[Category:Descriptive technique]]