You are not selected: Two field studies on the association between dehumanization and social rejection

•We study the association between rejection and dehumanization in two field studies.•In these field studies, we examined the selection process in student houses.•Results showed that when people need to reject targets, they subtly dehumanize them.•Dehumanizing rejected targets was related to lower rejection aversion.•We highlight the importance of ecologically valid approaches to dehumanization.