I Am Not a Full Person: Perceiving threat of COVID-19 leads to self-dehumanization

•Self-dehumanization, which refers to perceiving selves as not fully human, is one of the worst forms of self-perception.•People’s perceived threat of COVID-19 was positively associated with and resulted in self-dehumanization.•Self-dehumanization could account for the effect of the threat of COVID-19 on poor well-being.