Journal Article10.1177/0146167205276516
Essentialist Beliefs About Homosexuality: Structure and Implications for Prejudice
Nick Haslam,Sheri R. Levy +1 more
440
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that essentialist beliefs predict antigay prejudice independently of right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and political conservatism, and that essentialists mediate associations between prejudice and gender, ethnicity, and religiosity.
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Abstract: The structure of beliefs about the nature of homosexuality, and their association with antigay attitudes, were examined in three studies (Ns = 309, 487, and 216). Contrary to previous research, three dimensions were obtained: the belief that homosexuality is biologically based, immutable, and fixed early in life; the belief that it is cross-culturally and historically universal; and the belief that it constitutes a discrete, entitative type with defining features. Study 1 supported a three-factor structure for essentialist beliefs about male homosexuality. Study 2 replicated this structure with confirmatory factor analysis, extended it to beliefs about lesbianism, showed that all three dimensions predicted antigay attitudes, and demonstrated that essentialist beliefs mediate associations between prejudice and gender, ethnicity, and religiosity. Study 3 replicated the belief structure and mediation effects in a community sample and showed that essentialist beliefs predict antigay prejudice independently of right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and political conservatism.
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Citations
Cultural and Institutional Determinants of Social Dominance Orientation: A Cross‐Cultural Meta‐Analysis of 27 Societies
TL;DR: The authors investigated macrocontextual antecedents of national levels of Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) and found strong effects for hierarchy-attenuating legitimizing ideologies and gender empowerment.
113
Human Natures: Psychological Essentialism in Thinking about Differences between People
Nick Haslam,Jennifer Whelan +1 more
TL;DR: This paper reviewed recent research that shows a central role for essentialist thinking in stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination, focusing on beliefs about race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, mental disorder, and personality.
113
Religion, Prejudice, and Authoritarianism: Is RWA a Boon or Bane to the Psychology of Religion?
TL;DR: In this paper, four concerns regarding research on the relationship between RWA and religiosity are identified: (1) the overlap of religiosity and prejudice within the RWA scale; (2) the inflation of relationships by correlating part-whole measures; (3) covariation in the extremes of the construct hiding the possible independence of components within RWA; and (4) statistical artifacts arising in multiple regression from the combination of these factors.
The role of need for closure in essentialist entitativity beliefs and prejudice: An epistemic needs approach to racial categorization
Arne Roets,Alain Van Hiel +1 more
TL;DR: It is argued that EE beliefs about racial groups are an expression of motivated social cognition, serving people's seizing needs for quick and easy social judgment.
95
How does social essentialism affect the development of inter-group relations?
TL;DR: Three studies found that experimentally inducing essentialist beliefs about a novel social category led children to share fewer resources with category members, but did not lead to the out-group dislike that defines social prejudice.
95
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