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When differences become essential: minority essentialism in response to majority treatment
1School of Psychology, University of Exeter, United Kingdom. T.Morton@exeter.ac.uk
Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
|February 21, 2009
Summary
Minority groups may use essentialist beliefs about immutable identities to counter majority group denial. This strategy is less appealing when their identity is devalued, impacting self-efficacy and social change perceptions.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Minority Studies
- Prejudice Research
Background:
- Essentialist beliefs are often studied in majority groups supporting prejudice.
- Less research explores essentialism within minority groups and its psychological functions.
- Minorities may adopt essentialism to affirm identity against majority marginalization or devaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how minority groups utilize essentialist beliefs in response to identity denial versus devaluation.
- To examine the mediating role of social change perception and self-efficacy in this process.
Main Methods:
- Study 1: Gay, lesbian, and bisexual participants responded to scenarios involving identity devaluation or denial.
- Study 2: Replicated Study 1 findings and employed mediation analysis.
- Measured minority identification, endorsement of immutability beliefs, perceived social change, and self-efficacy.
Main Results:
- Minority identification correlated with stronger beliefs in the immutability of sexuality when identity was denied, but not when devalued.
- Endorsement of immutability beliefs was mediated by perceived possibility for social change.
- Belief in immutability was linked to higher self-efficacy.
Conclusions:
- Essentialism may serve to affirm minority identity when it is denied by the majority.
- The appeal of essentialism is context-dependent, influenced by perceived social change and self-efficacy.
- Findings contribute to understanding the complex role of essentialism in minority group psychology.
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