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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 20, 2025

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses

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Value-based essentialism: Essentialist beliefs about social groups with shared values.

April H Bailey¹, Joshua Knobe², George E Newman³

¹Department of Psychology.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. General

|September 13, 2021

Summary

Psychological essentialism can stem from shared values, not just biology. This "value-based essentialism" influences group perceptions and inductive reasoning, expanding our understanding of social psychology.

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Area of Science:

Social Psychology
Cognitive Psychology

Background:

Psychological essentialism, often linked to shared biology, influences theories of stereotyping, prejudice, and accountability.
Existing research primarily connects essentialism to beliefs about inherent biological features within social groups.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the concept of "value-based essentialism," where group essences are understood as shared values.
To determine if value-based essentialism elicits similar effects as biology-based essentialism on group perception and generalization.

Main Methods:

Study 1: Explored essentialist beliefs across diverse social groups defined by shared biology or values.
Studies 2-4: Manipulated whether groups were presented as based on biology or values, comparing essentialist beliefs and downstream consequences to a control group.
Assessed inductive generalizations and blame for wrongdoing in relation to group essence.

Main Results:

Both biology-based and value-based groups elicited similar general essentialist beliefs compared to incidental categories.
Presenting groups as based on biology or values increased essentialist beliefs relative to a control.
Shared values and biology increased inductive generalizations, but only shared biology reduced blame for wrongdoing.

Conclusions:

Essentialism about social groups can arise through multiple pathways, including shared values.
Value-based essentialism provides a broader framework for understanding social group cognition.
Findings challenge the sole reliance on biological underpinnings for essentialist beliefs in social psychology.