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The essence of essentialism?
1School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne,Parkville VIC 3010,Australia.nhaslam@unimelb.edu.auhttp://www.psych.unimelb.edu.au/people/nick-haslam.
The Behavioral and Brain Sciences
|November 13, 2014
Summary
The inherence heuristic explains individual differences in psychological essentialism and its link to prejudice. It also clarifies the variability and boundaries of social essentialism across contexts.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Psychological essentialism influences social cognition and intergroup relations.
- Understanding individual differences in essentialist thinking is crucial for explaining prejudice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present the inherence heuristic as a cognitive account of psychological essentialism.
- To elucidate the origins of individual differences in essentialist thought.
- To explore the contextual variability of social essentialism.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of cognitive processes underpinning essentialism.
- Examination of the inherence heuristic's role in shaping social perceptions.
Main Results:
- The inherence heuristic accounts for individual variations in essentialist thinking.
- This heuristic links essentialist tendencies to prejudice.
- It highlights the context-dependent nature of social essentialism.
Conclusions:
- The inherence heuristic provides a framework for understanding psychological essentialism.
- It clarifies the cognitive underpinnings of prejudice related to essentialist beliefs.
- It defines the boundaries and variability of social essentialism.
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