How  Percep*on  of  Social  Conflict  Affects  Essen*alist  Thinking  Y.  Xu,  J.  Book,  S.  Ernst,  C.  Marsalisi,  B.  Gordon,  S.  Singhal  &  J.  Coley   Categoriza*on  and  Reasoning  Lab,  Northeastern  Psychology  Department  

Background              Psychological  Essen/alism    The  belief  that  some  deep,  unobservable  essen5al  property  (‘essence’)   determines   category   membership   and   causes  observable  similari5es  among  category  members.    Essen/alist  Thinking  of  Social  Categories  People  essen5alize  social  categories  such  as  gender,  race,  religion,  poli5cal  affilia5on,  etc.      Environmental  Effects  on  Essen/alist  Thinking  

Current  Study    Aim  The  current  study  aims  to  inves5gate  how  perceived  social  conflict   would   facilitate   or   alleviate   essen5alist   thinking  about  relevant  social  categories.      Hypothesis  We   hypothesize   that   the   percep5on   of   intense   social  conflict   would   increase   essen5alist   thinking   of   social  categories  both  involved  and  not  involved  in  the  conflict.  

Method    Study  Design  Subjects  will   see  videos  presen5ng  conflicts  between   two  social   groups   and   rate   on   the   essen5alist   thinking  measures  of  various  social  categories.      Conflict  Manipula*on  Each   subject  will   be   randomly   assigned   into   one  of   the   5  study  condi5ons.  In  4  of  the  5  condi5ons,  subjects  will  see  one   video   depic5ng   direct   social   conflict   between   two  racial/  poli5cal/  religious/  sports  fan  groups.                    Social  Essen*alism  Measure    Naturalness,  Necessity,  Uniformity,  Informa*veness    Eg.   Naturalness   ra*ng:   “Some   categories   may   be   more  natural  than  others,  whereas  others  may  be  more  ar5ficial.  Please  rate  how  natural  each  social  category  is.  “  

Predicted  Results

Discussion  

References

Underlying  Essence  of  Doghood

Category:  Interdisciplinary  Topics  Undergraduate  &  Graduate  Student  Poster  Abstract  #  808

Diversity

Conflict By  manipula5ng   the   percep5on   of   social   conflict,   the   current  experiment   helps   us   explore   how   social   environmental   input  affects   the  way   people   categorize   social   groups   and   use   it   as  inference  basis.      The   follow-­‐up   study  will   examine   how   the   presence   of   social  diversity  would  affect  essen5alist  thinking  of  social  categories.  

Deeb,  I.,  Segall,  G.,  Birnbaum,  D.,  Ben-­‐Eliyahu,  A.  &  Diesendruck,  G.  (2011).  Seeing   isn't   believing:   the   effect   of   intergroup   exposure   on   children's  essen5alist   beliefs   about   ethnic   categories.   Journal   of   Personality   and  Social  Psychology,  101(6),  1139-­‐1156.    Haslam,   N.,   Rothschild,   L.   &   Ernest,   D.   (2000).   Essen5alist   beliefs   about  social  categories.  Bri6sh  Journal  of  Social  Psychology,  39,  113-­‐127.    

Three  Predicted  Models  

Social  categories  involved  in  the  conflict  video

Social  categories  in  the  same  dimension  as  target Focal- Non Target

Focal- Target

Non Featured Social  categories  unmen5oned  in  the  video

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Diffusion Model

Generalized Model

Specific Model

Focal-Target

Focal- Non Target

Non Featured

Control