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Lay Theories of Essentialism

Jacques-Philippe Leyens

Vincent Yzerbyt

Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

This article investigates the essentialist perception of social categories and differentiates it from two closely related concepts, namely entitativity and natural kind-ness. We argue that lay perceptions of social categories vary along three dimensions: natural kind-ness, entitativity, and essentialism. Depending on whether membership in social categories is forced or chosen, people develop different theories and associate different types of characteristics. Perceived control upon membership in the categories influences perceptions of entitativity and natural kind-ness but has no direct impact on the attribution of essentialism to the groups.

Key Words: entitativity • natural kind-ness • subjective essentialism

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