When the Minority Thinks "Essentially" Like the Majority: Blacks Distinguish Bio-Somatic from Bio-Behavioral Essentialism in Their Conceptions of Whites, and Only the Latter Predicts Prejudice.

Michael J Gill,Dana M Mendes,Brock Bastian

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0160086

Abstract

Essentialist beliefs about social groups can contribute to prejudice and intergroup distancing. To date, little data have been gathered regarding minority group members’ essentialistic thinking about the White majority in the U.S. Do essentialist beliefs show a similar structure when minority group members are thinking about the majority as when the majority group is thinking about the minority group? Do minority group essentialist beliefs predict affective prejudice and diminished desire for intergroup contact as they do among White respondents? We sought answers to these questions in a study that included 248 African American participants. We found clear evidence that the structure of Blacks’ essentialist thinking about Whites matches the structure of Whites’ essentialist thinking about Blacks. Specifically, Black respondents made a distinction between bio-somatic and bio-behavioral essentialism, and reported stronger endorsement of the former as compared to the latter. Also replicating prior studies of Whites’ essentialist thinking, only bio-behavioral essentialist beliefs were predictive of negative attitudes. This suggests that essentialism can be linked to prejudice even in contexts that do not involve a dominant group rationalizing its social advantages. Discussion centers on implications of this work for prejudice reduction.

Highlights

Because of its likely role in intergroup prejudice and violence, social psychologists have sought to understand the role of essentialist thinking in lay conceptions of social groups
The empirical data explore the essentialist thinking of the dominant Caucasian majority in Europe and the United States
We proposed to address two questions in the present article: (1) What is the structure of minority group members’ essentialist thinking about Whites?, and (2) Does such essentialist thinking predict affective prejudice or preferences regarding contact with Whites? We have our answers

Summary

Introduction

Because of its likely role in intergroup prejudice and violence, social psychologists have sought to understand the role of essentialist thinking in lay conceptions of social groups. Many scholars have focused on the question of what, precisely, it means to hold essentialist beliefs about a social group [1,2,3,4,5]. Others have focused on possible attitudinal consequences of holding essentialist beliefs, including affective prejudice [5,6,7,8] and attitudes toward contact with the outgroup [9]. We present data that represent a much-needed effort toward exploring minority group members’ essentialist thinking about Whites. Key questions include: (1) What is the structure of minority group members’ essentialist thinking about Whites?; and (2) Does such essentialist thinking predict affective prejudice or preferences regarding contact with Whites?

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion