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Marjorie Rhodes - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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how does social Essentialism affect the development of inter group relations
Developmental Science, 2018Co-Authors: Marjorie Rhodes, Sarahjane Leslie, Katya Saunders, Yarrow Dunham, Andrei CimpianAbstract:Psychological Essentialism is a pervasive conceptual bias to view categories as reflecting something deep, stable, and informative about their members. Scholars from diverse disciplines have long theorized that psychological Essentialism has negative ramifications for inter-group relations, yet little previous empirical work has experimentally tested the social implications of essentialist beliefs. Three studies (N = 127, ages 4.5-6) found that experimentally inducing essentialist beliefs about a novel social category led children to share fewer resources with category members, but did not lead to the out-group dislike that defines social prejudice. These findings indicate that Essentialism negatively influences some key components of inter-group relations, but does not lead directly to the development of prejudice.
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making boundaries great again Essentialism and support for boundary enhancing initiatives
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2017Co-Authors: Steven O Roberts, Marjorie Rhodes, Susan A. GelmanAbstract:Psychological Essentialism entails a focus on category boundaries (e.g., categorizing people as men or women) and an increase in the conceptual distance between those boundaries (e.g., accentuating the differences between men and women). Across eight studies, we demonstrate that Essentialism additionally entails an increase in support for boundary-enhancing legislation, policies, and social services, and that it does so under conditions that disadvantage social groups, as well as conditions that benefit them. First, individual differences in Essentialism were associated with support for legislation mandating that transgender people use restrooms corresponding with their biological sex, and with support for the boundary-enhancing policies of the 2016 then-presumptive Republican presidential nominee (i.e., Donald Trump). Second, Essentialism was associated with support for same-gender classrooms designed to promote student learning, as well as support for services designed to benefit LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) individuals. These findings demonstrate the boundary-enhancing implications of Essentialism and their social significance.
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the development and developmental consequences of social Essentialism
Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 2017Co-Authors: Marjorie Rhodes, Tara M. MandalaywalaAbstract:People often view certain ways of classifying people (e.g., by gender, race, or ethnicity) as reflecting real distinctions found in nature. Such categories are viewed as marking meaningful, fundamental, and informative differences between distinct kinds of people. This article examines the development of these essentialist intuitive theories of how the social world is structured, along with the developmental consequences of these beliefs. We first examine the processes that give rise to social Essentialism, arguing that Essentialism emerges as children actively attempt to make sense of their environment by relying on several basic representational and explanatory biases. These developmental processes give rise to the widespread emergence of social essentialist views in early childhood, but allow for vast variability across development and cultural contexts in the precise nature of these beliefs. We then examine what is known and still to be discovered about the implications of Essentialism for stereotyping, inter-group interaction, and the development of social prejudice. We conclude with directions for future research, particularly on the theoretical payoff that could be gained by including more diverse samples of children in future developmental investigations. WIREs Cogn Sci 2017, 8:e1437. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1437 This article is categorized under: Psychology > Development and Aging Philosophy > Knowledge and Belief.
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Essentialism Promotes Racial Prejudice by Increasing Endorsement of Social Hierarchies
Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2017Co-Authors: Tara M. Mandalaywala, David M. Amodio, Marjorie RhodesAbstract:Why do essentialist beliefs promote prejudice? We proposed that essentialist beliefs increase prejudice toward Black people because they imply that existing social hierarchies reflect a naturally occurring structure. We tested this hypothesis in three studies (N = 621). Study 1 revealed that racial Essentialism was associated with increased prejudice toward Blacks among both White and Black adult participants, suggesting that Essentialism relates to prejudice according to social hierarchy rather than only to group membership. Studies 2 and 3 experimentally demonstrated that increasing essentialist beliefs induced stronger endorsement of social hierarchies in both Black and White participants, which in turn mediated the effect of Essentialism on negative attitudes toward Black people. Together, these findings suggest that Essentialism increases prejudice toward low-status groups by increasing endorsement of social hierarchies and existing inequality.
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cultural transmission of social Essentialism
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012Co-Authors: Marjorie Rhodes, Sarahjane Leslie, Christina M TworekAbstract:Social Essentialism entails the belief that certain social categories (e.g., gender, race) mark fundamentally distinct kinds of people. Essentialist beliefs have pernicious consequences, supporting social stereotyping and contributing to prejudice. How does social Essentialism develop? In the studies reported here, we tested the hypothesis that generic language facilitates the cultural transmission of social Essentialism. Two studies found that hearing generic language about a novel social category diverse for race, ethnicity, age, and sex led 4-y-olds and adults to develop essentialist beliefs about that social category. A third study documented that experimentally inducing parents to hold essentialist beliefs about a novel social category led them to produce more generic language when discussing the category with their children. Thus, generic language facilitates the transmission of essentialist beliefs about social categories from parents to children.
Nick Haslam - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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beyond mars and venus the role of gender Essentialism in support for gender inequality and backlash
PLOS ONE, 2018Co-Authors: Lea Skewes, Cordelia Fine, Nick HaslamAbstract:It has been argued that gender Essentialism impedes progress towards greater gender equality. Here we present a new gender Essentialism scale (GES), and validate it in two large nationally representative samples from Denmark and Australia. In both samples the GES was highly reliable and predicted lack of support for sex-role egalitarianism and support for gender discrimination, as well as perceived fairness of gender-based treatment in the Australian sample, independently of two established predictors (i.e., social dominance orientation and conservative political orientation). In addition, gender Essentialism assessed by the GES moderated some manifestations of the backlash effect: high essentialists were more likely to respond negatively towards a power-seeking female political candidate relative to a male candidate. Given the implications for possible workplace interventions, further work could usefully explore whether gender Essentialism moderates other well-established forms of gender bias.
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Essentialism versus nominalism
The Encyclopedia of Clinical Psychology, 2015Co-Authors: Erlend P Kvaale, Nick HaslamAbstract:Essentialism is the philosophical position that concepts are underpinned by fixed, identity-determining essences. It is often contrasted with nominalism, the view that concepts are mental constructions that reflect social and linguistic conventions. This contrast is fundamental to several debates in clinical psychology, notably whether the concept of “mental disorder” should be understood in an essentialist way, whether particular disorders represent essence-based “natural kinds,” and whether essentialist thinking about mental disorders among laypeople is linked to mental illness stigma. The implications of the Essentialism versus nominalism distinction within these three domains are reviewed. Keywords: mental health; determinism; stigma
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genetic Essentialism neuroEssentialism and stigma commentary on dar nimrod and heine 2011
Psychological Bulletin, 2011Co-Authors: Nick HaslamAbstract:Dar-Nimrod and Heine (2011) presented a masterfully broad review of the implications of genetic Essentialism for understandings of human diversity. This commentary clarifies the reasons that essentialist thinking has problematic social consequences and links genetic forms of Essentialism to those invoking neural essences. The mounting evidence that these forms of essentialist thinking contribute to the stigma of mental disorder is reviewed. Genetic and neuroEssentialisms influence media portrayals of scientific research and distort how they are interpreted by laypeople. The common thread of these Essentialisms is their tendency to deepen social divisions and promote forms of social segregation.
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Immigration from the perspective of hosts and immigrants: Roles of psychological Essentialism and social identity
Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2008Co-Authors: Brock Bastian, Nick HaslamAbstract:Implicit person theory research can be conceptualized within the framework of psychological Essentialism. Essentialist beliefs are associated with entity theories and both predict phenomena such as stereotyping. The present research extended previous work on the links between implicit theories and social identity processes, examining how essentialist beliefs are associated with social identification and processes related to prejudice and intergroup perception. After developing a new measure of essentialist beliefs in Study 1, Study 2 showed that these beliefs were associated with negative bias towards immigrants, particularly when participants were primed with an exclusive social identity. In Study 3, essentialist beliefs among immigrants moderated their adoption of Australian identity as a self-guide during acculturation. Essentialist beliefs therefore play a significant role in the psychology of social identity.
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human natures psychological Essentialism in thinking about differences between people
Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2008Co-Authors: Nick Haslam, Jennifer WhelanAbstract:‘Psychological Essentialism’ is the belief that members of a category share deep-seated properties that determine their identity. In the case of social categories, such beliefs have a variety of important implications. We review recent research that shows a central role for essentialist thinking in stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Special attention is paid to beliefs about race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, mental disorder, and personality. Lingering questions about essentialist thinking are discussed, and several directions for future research are suggested.
Tom Postmes - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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theorizing gender in the face of social change is there anything essential about Essentialism
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2009Co-Authors: Thomas A Morton, Tom Postmes, Alexander S Haslam, Matthew J HornseyAbstract:The authors examine how beliefs about the stability of the social hierarchy moderate the link between sexism and essentialist beliefs about gender and how the expression of essentialist beliefs might reciprocally affect the social structure. Studies 1 (N = 240) and 2 (N = 143) presented gender-based inequality as stable, changing, or changed. In both studies, sexism was positively associated with Essentialism only among men and only when inequality was presented as changing. Study 3 (N = 552) explored the possible consequences of expressing essentialist theories for social change. Exposure to essentialist theories increased both men's and women's acceptance of inequality. Exposure further increased men's support for discriminatory practices and boosted their self-esteem. These patterns demonstrate that although Essentialism is linked to prejudice, this link is itself not essential. Rather, Essentialism may be invoked strategically to protect higher status when this is threatened by change and may be successful in so doing.
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shifting ground the variable use of Essentialism in contexts of inclusion and exclusion
British Journal of Social Psychology, 2009Co-Authors: Thomas A Morton, Matthew J Hornsey, Tom PostmesAbstract:Past research has demonstrated a broad association between prejudice and Essentialism. However, research has also shown that Essentialism and prejudice are not always linked in the same way – sometimes essentialist thinking is associated with prejudice, but sometimes it is not. The aim of the present research was to explore experimentally how prejudice might relate to essentialist beliefs about race differently depending on how race is being used (inclusively or exclusively) and who is the implied target of such treatment (ethnic minorities or the white majority). Study 1 (N equals 178) demonstrated that, although prejudice among white Australians is typically related to essentialist beliefs about Aboriginal identity, this relationship disappeared when racial criteria were used to exclude someone for ‘being white’. Under these conditions, prejudiced participants expressed opposition to such treatment and de-essentialized race. Study 2 (N equals 198) broadly replicated this pattern in a British context and indicated that prejudiced participants' de-Essentialism of race was due to a stronger emphasis on values of equality under the same conditions. These results demonstrate that prejudiced people endorse Essentialism when it can be used to exclude others (who they want to exclude), but reject Essentialism when it is used to exclude them.
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when differences become essential minority Essentialism in response to majority treatment
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2009Co-Authors: Thomas A Morton, Tom PostmesAbstract:There is considerable interest in how essentialist beliefs support prejudice and discrimination against minorities. Less attention has been given to Essentialism within minority groups. The authors argue that minorities might use Essentialism to counter the denial of their identity by the majority (e.g., marginalization) but that Essentialism might be less appealing when minority identity is recognized but devalued (e.g., discrimination). In Study 1, gay, lesbian, and bisexual participants contemplated treatment that either devalued or denied their identity. Minority identification was related to stronger endorsement of beliefs about the immutability of sexuality in the context of identity denial but not in the context of identity devaluation. Study 2 replicated this pattern and showed that endorsement of immutability beliefs was mediated through the perceived possibility for social change and was in turn related to feelings of self-efficacy. The results are discussed in relation to current perspectives on Essentialism.
Susan A. Gelman - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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maybe they re born with it or maybe it s experience toward a deeper understanding of the learning style myth
Journal of Educational Psychology, 2020Co-Authors: Shaylene E Nancekivell, Priti Shah, Susan A. GelmanAbstract:Decades of research suggest that learning styles, or the belief that people learn better when they receive instruction in their dominant way of learning, may be one of the most pervasive myths about cognition. Nonetheless, little is known about what it means to believe in learning styles. The present investigation uses one theoretical framework—psychological Essentialism—to explore the content and consistency of people’s learning style beliefs. Psychological Essentialism is a belief that certain categories (such as dogs, girls, or visual learners) have an underlying reality or true nature that is biologically based and highly predictive of many other features (Gelman, 2003). We tested the prevalence of erroneous essentialist beliefs regarding learning styles in both educators and noneducators, including that learning styles are innate, unchanging, discrete, and wired into the brain. In each of two experiments, we identified two groups of learning style believers, with one group holding an essentialist interpretation of learning styles, and the other group holding a nonessentialist interpretation of learning styles. No differences were found between educators’ and noneducators’ beliefs. In fact, only one factor was found to be a significant predictor of learning style beliefs for educators: the age of the population with whom they work. Specifically, those who worked with younger children were more likely to interpret learning styles in an essentialist way. Together the findings demonstrate that learning style beliefs are far more complex and variable than previously recognized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved
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gender Essentialism in transgender and cisgender children
PLOS ONE, 2019Co-Authors: Selin Gulgoz, Susan A. Gelman, Madeleine Demeules, Kristina R OlsonAbstract:Children, across cultures, show an early-emerging tendency to essentialize gender, viewing gender as inborn and predictive of stereotypical preferences. However, research has been limited to children whose own gender experience is largely consistent with the assumptions of gender Essentialism. In contrast, transgender children have gender identities (and related stereotypical preferences) that differ from their sex assigned at birth, which therefore appear to challenge an essentialist view of gender. In the current study, we examined the degree to which transgender children (N = 97, 3-11 years) view a child's sex at birth as predictive of their later gender-typed preferences. Additionally, we recruited two comparison groups: cisgender siblings of transgender participants (N = 59) and cisgender, age- and gender-matched controls (N = 90). In an adapted switched-at-birth paradigm, participants in all groups believed that a child's sex at birth would predict their later gender-typed preferences; participants were especially likely to think so when the target character was reared in a socialization environment that aligned with the target's own gender, rather than one where the socialization environment aligned with a different gender. Whereas cisgender participants showed a decline in Essentialism with age, transgender children did not show any age-related changes in their beliefs. The current findings are the first to show that transgender and cisgender children, despite differences in gender experiences, might similarly essentialize gender. However, these findings also raise questions about how different participant groups might interpret measures differently.
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making boundaries great again Essentialism and support for boundary enhancing initiatives
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2017Co-Authors: Steven O Roberts, Marjorie Rhodes, Susan A. GelmanAbstract:Psychological Essentialism entails a focus on category boundaries (e.g., categorizing people as men or women) and an increase in the conceptual distance between those boundaries (e.g., accentuating the differences between men and women). Across eight studies, we demonstrate that Essentialism additionally entails an increase in support for boundary-enhancing legislation, policies, and social services, and that it does so under conditions that disadvantage social groups, as well as conditions that benefit them. First, individual differences in Essentialism were associated with support for legislation mandating that transgender people use restrooms corresponding with their biological sex, and with support for the boundary-enhancing policies of the 2016 then-presumptive Republican presidential nominee (i.e., Donald Trump). Second, Essentialism was associated with support for same-gender classrooms designed to promote student learning, as well as support for services designed to benefit LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) individuals. These findings demonstrate the boundary-enhancing implications of Essentialism and their social significance.
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Gender Essentialism in Children and Parents: Implications for the Development of Gender Stereotyping and Gender-Typed Preferences
Sex Roles, 2016Co-Authors: Meredith Meyer, Susan A. GelmanAbstract:Psychological Essentialism is a set of lay beliefs about categories, according to which certain categories are seen as natural and arising from an inborn, causal force or “essence.” Social categories, including gender, are often essentialized by both adults and children. The current study examines how gender Essentialism relates to other gender-relevant beliefs and preferences, in both a child sample (5- to 7-year-olds) and an adult sample (the children’s parents). Children’s and parents’ Essentialism predicted children’s gender-typed preferences, but not children’s prescriptive stereotyping. In contrast, parents’ Essentialism predicted their own prescriptive stereotyping, but not their gender-typed preferences. Implications of these findings are discussed in the contexts of (a) past findings linking Essentialism with stereotyping and (b) the practical implications of developmental shifts in the correlates of Essentialism, including ways in which stereotyping and rigid beliefs about gender may be reduced.
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Artifacts and Essentialism
Review of Philosophy and Psychology, 2013Co-Authors: Susan A. GelmanAbstract:Psychological Essentialism is an intuitive folk belief positing that certain categories have a non-obvious inner “essence” that gives rise to observable features. Although this belief most commonly characterizes natural kind categories, I argue that psychological Essentialism can also be extended in important ways to artifact concepts. Specifically, concepts of individual artifacts include the non-obvious feature of object history, which is evident when making judgments regarding authenticity and ownership. Classic examples include famous works of art (e.g., the Mona Lisa is authentic because of its provenance), but ordinary artifacts likewise receive value from their history (e.g., a worn and tattered blanket may have special value if it was one’s childhood possession). Moreover, in some cases, object history may be thought to have causal effects on individual artifacts, much as an animal essence has causal effects. I review empirical support for these claims and consider the implications for both artifact concepts and Essentialism. This perspective suggests that artifact concepts cannot be contained in a theoretical framework that focuses exclusively on similarity or even function. Furthermore, although there are significant differences between Essentialism of natural kinds and Essentialism of artifact individuals, the commonalities suggest that psychological Essentialism may not derive from folk biology but instead may reflect more domain-general perspectives on the world.
Johannes Keller - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Essentialism goes social belief in social determinism as a component of psychological Essentialism
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2011Co-Authors: Ulrike Rangel, Johannes KellerAbstract:Individuals tend to explain the characteristics of others with reference to an underlying essence, a tendency that has been termed psychological Essentialism. Drawing on current conceptualizations of Essentialism as a fundamental mode of social thinking, and on prior studies investigating belief in genetic determinism (BGD) as a component of Essentialism, we argue that BGD cannot constitute the sole basis of individuals' essentialist reasoning. Accordingly, we propose belief in social determinism (BSD) as a complementary component of Essentialism, which relies on the belief that a person's essential character is shaped by social factors (e.g., upbringing, social background). We developed a scale to measure this social component of Essentialism. Results of five correlational studies indicate that (a) BGD and BSD are largely independent, (b) BGD and BSD are related to important correlates of essentialist thinking (e.g., dispositionism, perceived group homogeneity), (c) BGD and BSD are associated with indicators of fundamental epistemic and ideological motives, and (d) the endorsement of each lay theory is associated with vital social-cognitive consequences (particularly stereotyping and prejudice). Two experimental studies examined the idea that the relationship between BSD and prejudice is bidirectional in nature. Study 6 reveals that rendering social-deterministic explanations salient results in increased levels of ingroup favoritism in individuals who chronically endorse BSD. Results of Study 7 show that priming of prejudice enhances endorsement of social-deterministic explanations particularly in persons habitually endorsing prejudiced attitudes.
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in genes we trust the biological component of psychological Essentialism and its relationship to mechanisms of motivated social cognition
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2005Co-Authors: Johannes KellerAbstract:: Three studies analyzed the biological component of psychological Essentialism (laypeople's belief that social categories have an underlying nature/natural foundation) as it pertains to mechanisms of motivated social cognition. A new scale assessing the belief in genetic determinism is introduced as a measure of the biological component of Essentialism. Results speak to the reliability and validity of the scale and show that essentialist beliefs are associated with basic social-cognitive motives and are also related to processes of stereotyping and prejudice. An experimental study found that rendering essentialist information salient elicits increased levels of prejudice and in-group bias, particularly in persons holding chronic essentialist beliefs.
