What makes us “we”? The positivity bias in essentialist beliefs about group attributes

IF 3.2 2区 心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL
Kaiyuan Chen, Michael A. Hogg
{"title":"What makes us “we”? The positivity bias in essentialist beliefs about group attributes","authors":"Kaiyuan Chen,&nbsp;Michael A. Hogg","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104581","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Psychological essentialism refers to the tendency to view entities as having enduring properties that make them what they are (i.e., essences). Emerging research suggests people possess a positivity bias in essentialism (PBE), a preference to view positively (vs. negatively) evaluated attributes as the essences of an entity. Four experiments (total <em>N</em> = 1020) tested group attributes' association (ingroup vs. outgroup) as a boundary condition of PBE. We expected PBE to be stronger for ingroup than for outgroup and this difference to be accentuated by (a) identity centrality and (b) self-uncertainty. In Studies 1–3, we asked participants to generate one positive attribute and one negative attribute for ingroup and outgroup respectively and measured PBE. PBE was found to be stronger for ingroup attributes and was even reversed for outgroup attributes. Identity centrality, but not self-uncertainty, accentuated this effect. In the pre-registered Study 4, we asked participants to generate as many attributes as possible and replicated the main findings. Moreover, we found differences in PBE, along with intergroup affect, prospectively accounted for intergroup cooperative intentions. The findings suggest that essentialist beliefs about attributes are constrained by collective self-enhancement and have unique implications in intergroup contexts.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103123001385","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Psychological essentialism refers to the tendency to view entities as having enduring properties that make them what they are (i.e., essences). Emerging research suggests people possess a positivity bias in essentialism (PBE), a preference to view positively (vs. negatively) evaluated attributes as the essences of an entity. Four experiments (total N = 1020) tested group attributes' association (ingroup vs. outgroup) as a boundary condition of PBE. We expected PBE to be stronger for ingroup than for outgroup and this difference to be accentuated by (a) identity centrality and (b) self-uncertainty. In Studies 1–3, we asked participants to generate one positive attribute and one negative attribute for ingroup and outgroup respectively and measured PBE. PBE was found to be stronger for ingroup attributes and was even reversed for outgroup attributes. Identity centrality, but not self-uncertainty, accentuated this effect. In the pre-registered Study 4, we asked participants to generate as many attributes as possible and replicated the main findings. Moreover, we found differences in PBE, along with intergroup affect, prospectively accounted for intergroup cooperative intentions. The findings suggest that essentialist beliefs about attributes are constrained by collective self-enhancement and have unique implications in intergroup contexts.

是什么让我们成为 "我们"?关于群体属性的本质主义信念中的积极性偏差
心理本质主义指的是一种倾向,认为实体具有持久的属性,使它们成为什么样子(即本质)。新兴研究表明,人们在本质主义(PBE)中具有积极偏见,即倾向于将积极(相对于消极)评估的属性视为实体的本质。4个实验(总N = 1020)检验了群体属性关联(群内与群外)作为PBE的边界条件。我们预计内部群体的PBE比外部群体更强,这种差异将被(a)身份中心性和(b)自我不确定性所强调。在研究1-3中,我们要求参与者分别为内群体和外群体产生一个积极属性和一个消极属性,并测量了PBE。结果发现,PBE对群体内属性的影响更强,对群体外属性的影响甚至相反。身份中心性,而非自我不确定性,强化了这种影响。在预注册的研究4中,我们要求参与者尽可能多地生成属性,并重复了主要发现。此外,我们发现PBE的差异,以及群体间的影响,可以解释群体间的合作意向。研究结果表明,特质的本质主义信念受到集体自我提升的约束,在群体间情境中具有独特的含义。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
CiteScore
6.30
自引率
2.90%
发文量
134
期刊介绍: The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology publishes original research and theory on human social behavior and related phenomena. The journal emphasizes empirical, conceptually based research that advances an understanding of important social psychological processes. The journal also publishes literature reviews, theoretical analyses, and methodological comments.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信