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Description: The present study aims at expanding research on dehumanization in the work domain by exploring laypeople's dehumanizing perceptions toward stigmatized workers. Starting from Hughes' (1951; see also Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999) concept of "dirty work", the present research aims to demonstrate that the different types of occupational taint elicit distinct dehumanizing images of certain occupational groups. Employing a cluster analysis, the results showed that workers in the physical taint cluster were most strongly associated with biological metaphors, workers in the social taint cluster were perceived as most similar to objects, and workers in the moral taint cluster were perceived as most similar to animals. The theoretical and practical implications are considered.