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The social aetiology of essentialist beliefs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2014

Cliodhna O'Connor  and
Helene Joffe
Cliodhna O'Connor
Affiliation:
Division of Psychology & Language Sciences, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, United Kingdom. oconnor.c@ucl.ac.uk h.joffe@ucl.ac.uk https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=COCON80 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychlangsci/research/CPB/people/cpb-staff/h_joffe
Helene Joffe
Affiliation:
Division of Psychology & Language Sciences, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, United Kingdom. oconnor.c@ucl.ac.uk h.joffe@ucl.ac.uk https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=COCON80 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychlangsci/research/CPB/people/cpb-staff/h_joffe
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Abstract

This commentary highlights the importance of attending to the sociocultural contexts that foster essentialist ideas. It contends that Cimpian & Salomon's (C&S's) model undervalues the extent to which the development of essentialist beliefs is contingent on social experience. The result is a restriction of the model's applicability to real-world instances of essentialism-fuelled prejudice and discrimination.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 5 , October 2014 , pp. 498 - 499
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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