When do generics lead to social essentialism: Developmental evidence from Iran

IF 2.8 4区 心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL
Ghazaleh Shahbazi, Hossein Samani, Tara M. Mandalaywala, Khatereh Borhani, Telli Davoodi
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Abstract

Generic descriptions (e.g., ‘girls are emotional’) are argued to play a major role in the development of essentialist reasoning about social categories. Although generics are prevalent across languages, studies exploring if and how generic language leads to essentialism have almost exclusively been conducted in English‐speaking communities and among Western samples. This is a significant limitation as scholars posit that generic language is a universal cue that signals which categories are culturally relevant. However, without research asking whether generics have similar consequences across diverse cultural and linguistic contexts, it is impossible to make a claim of universality. Here, we will fill this gap, by replicating and extending a previous U.S.‐based study assessing the effects of generic language in a sample of Persian‐speaking 6 to 9‐year‐old children (N = 160) and adults (N = 160) in Iran. Participants will hear generic (‘Foolies’) or specific (‘This Foolie’) statements (between subjects) that ascribe biological or cultural features to the novel social category of Foolies. We will measure the degree to which exposure to these statements leads to kindhood reasoning (i.e., offering formal explanations for category features) and essentialist reasoning in terms of inheritability. Identifying similar patterns in the Iranian sample as in prior US‐based work will support the hypothesis that generic language signals category importance and licences kindhood but does not contribute directly to reasoning about social categories as biologically inheritable. This work contributes to diversifying the field and critically informs theories of social essentialism.
通用性何时会导致社会本质主义?来自伊朗的发展证据
一般描述(如 "女孩都很情绪化")被认为在社会类别本质论推理的发展中起着重要作用。虽然通用语在各种语言中都很普遍,但探讨通用语是否以及如何导致本质主义的研究几乎都是在英语社区和西方样本中进行的。这是一个很大的局限,因为学者们认为通用语是一种普遍的线索,预示着哪些范畴与文化相关。然而,如果没有研究询问通用语在不同的文化和语言环境中是否会产生类似的后果,就不可能宣称通用语具有普遍性。在此,我们将填补这一空白,复制并扩展之前在美国进行的一项研究,评估通用语对伊朗讲波斯语的 6-9 岁儿童(160 人)和成人(160 人)的影响。受试者将听到通用语("愚人")或特定语("这个愚人")(受试者之间),这些语句将生物或文化特征归结为 "愚人 "这一新颖的社会类别。我们将测量接触这些语句在多大程度上会导致亲属推理(即为类别特征提供正式解释)和可继承性方面的本质主义推理。如果在伊朗样本中发现与之前美国研究中类似的模式,我们将支持这样的假设:通用语言标志着类别的重要性并允许亲属关系,但并不直接有助于推理社会类别在生物学上的可继承性。这项工作有助于实现该领域的多样化,并为社会本质论的理论提供批判性信息。
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来源期刊
Infant and Child Development
Infant and Child Development PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL-
CiteScore
2.90
自引率
9.10%
发文量
93
期刊介绍: Infant and Child Development publishes high quality empirical, theoretical and methodological papers addressing psychological development from the antenatal period through to adolescence. The journal brings together research on: - social and emotional development - perceptual and motor development - cognitive development - language development atypical development (including conduct problems, anxiety and depressive conditions, language impairments, autistic spectrum disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders)
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