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Are essentialist beliefs associated with prejudice?
Nick Haslam1, Louis Rothschild, Donald Ernst
1New School for Social Research, New York, USA.
The British Journal of Social Psychology
|April 24, 2002
Summary
Belief in group essences strongly predicts anti-gay attitudes, but weakly relates to racism and sexism. This suggests essentialism plays a key role in prejudice psychology, particularly concerning sexual orientation.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Attitude Research
Background:
- Gordon Allport (1954) linked essentialist beliefs to prejudice.
- Essentialism posits fixed, inherent group natures.
- Contemporary theorists often echo Allport's view.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test Allport's theory on essentialist beliefs and prejudice.
- To examine associations with prejudice towards Black people, women, and gay men.
- To investigate the cognitive style linked to essentialism.
Main Methods:
- Empirical examination of essentialist beliefs.
- Correlation analysis with prejudice measures.
- Assessment across multiple stigmatized social categories.
Main Results:
- Essentialist beliefs strongly correlated with anti-gay attitudes.
- Weak associations found with sexism and racism.
- No consistent cognitive style across all groups was identified.
- Some anti-essentialist beliefs linked to anti-gay attitudes.
Conclusions:
- Allport's theory received qualified support.
- Essentialism is a significant factor in anti-gay prejudice.
- The role of essentialism in racism and sexism is less pronounced.
- Essentialism independently contributes to prejudice psychology.