It appears one of two things happen in our process of understanding.
We get so much absorbed in certain attributes or outcomes that we lose the bigger picture. This reduces the subject to an object with an utility value. The economics is simple - object loses charm for us the moment utility is diminished. We humans do this with other humans at times. As an example, there was a failure in a scientific endeavour recently. It was a sad moment to see us humans judging the scientists purely by the face value of this failure. It is hard to tear through the veil of outcomes and see the human within.
See the other phenomenon. At times we do treat objects more than subjects. Some of our religious faiths regard symbols to be as true as the human being it represents. So the care, attention and love we give to the symbol is extraordinary. Same thing is true for the phones we use, or the vehicles we drive; whatever we love. A simple scratch on the phone makes us feel worse for days.
Subjectifying brings a sense of respect and love. May be it makes us see things with compassion. Isn’t that being human?