The inherence heuristic: a basis for psychological essentialism?

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Psychological essentialism involves assuming categories have underlying, unobservable essences.
• Prior research links essentialism to a focus on inherent properties rather than observable characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the cognitive underpinnings of the inherence heuristic in psychological essentialism.
• To propose that a realist assumption about environmental regularities may precede and support essentialist thinking.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis and theoretical integration of existing research on essentialism and cognitive biases.
• Contrastive analysis of attention to inherent versus non-inherent causal links.

Main Results:

• Psychological essentialism appears to depend on a domain-general focus on inherent causes.
• The inherence heuristic may be supported by a foundational cognitive bias: a realist assumption about environmental regularities.
• Attention shifts to non-inherent, contingent, and historical links when considering specific representations.

Conclusions:

• The tendency to essentialize may be rooted in a fundamental belief in stable environmental patterns.
• Cognitive biases related to environmental regularities play a crucial role in shaping essentialist beliefs.
• Understanding these foundational biases is key to explaining the prevalence of psychological essentialism.