Evaluate the collective function of references cited together in a given text segment.
Classify their combined role into one of the following categories: 'method', 'background', or 'result'.

Text:Consistent with previous work (Kteily et al., 2015), we hypothesized that outgroup dehumanization would itself be associated with support for aggressive intergroup attitudes and behaviors, such as support for torture and collective aggression, independent of outgroup prejudice (i.
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