Tapping generalized essentialism to predict outgroup prejudices

Abstract

Psychological essentialism, the perception that groups possess inherent properties binding them and differentiating them from others, is theoretically relevant to predicting prejudice. Recent developments isolate two key dimensions: essentialistic entitativity (EE; groups as unitary, whole, entity-like) and essentialistic naturalness (EN; groups as fixed and immutable). We introduce a novel question: does tapping the covariance between EE and EN, rather than pitting them against each other, boost prejudice prediction? In Study 1 (re-analysis of Roets & Van Hiel, 2011b, Samples 1-3, in Belgium) and Study 2 (new Canadian data) their common/shared variance, modelled as generalized essentialism, doubles the predictive power relative to regression-based approaches with regard to racism (but not anti-gay or -schizophrenic prejudices). Theoretical implications are discussed.