Essentialist Beliefs About Mental Disorders

Haslam, Nick; Ernst, Donald

doi:10.1521/jscp.21.6.628.22793

Cited by 158 publications

(102 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…However, field studies have reported similar contextual findings of ethnic identity salience on well-being (Downie, et al, 2006;Yip, 2005). In addition, research on lay theories has shown that studies that experimentally activate lay theories provide similar findings as when the endorsement of theories are measured by self-report (e.g., Haslam & Ernst, 2002;Verkuyten, 2009). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Assimilation ideology and situational well-being among ethnic minority members

Verkuyten

2010

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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To cite this version:Maykel Verkuyten.Assimilation ideology and situational well-being among ethnic minority members.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Elsevier, 2009, 46 (2) This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPTAssimilation and situational well-being 1 Assimilation ideology and situational well-being among ethnic minority members Maykel VerkuytenUtrecht University ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPTAssimilation and situational well-being 2 AbstractTwo experimental questionnaire studies were conducted to test whether assimilation ideology affects the relationship between ethnic self-esteem and situational well-being of TurkishDutch participants. Social identity theory argues that ethnic identity can buffer the effects of group identity threat on well-being, and self-esteem research suggests that a positively evaluated self-aspect can form an important source of well-being. Results show that in an assimilation context, ethnic self-esteem is positively related to feelings of global self-worth and general life-satisfaction. The findings suggest that ethnic self-esteem is an important factor for well-being in an assimilation context that undermines minority group members ability to live their ethnic identity and threatens their group's positive distinctiveness. Although the professed goal of assimilation is equality, assimilationist thinking provides intellectual and moral justification for the superiority and unchanging character of the dominant identity and culture (Fredrickson, 1999). Majority groups tend to favor assimilation of ethnic minorities which requires that minority group members conform to dominant values and abandon their minority group identity (e.g., Van Oudenhoven, Prins, & Buunk, 1998;Verkuyten, 2005). In the Netherlands there is a lively public debate on the so-called failure of multiculturalism and the need for assimilation. Leading politicians and opinion makers have explicitly rejected the idea of multiculturalism which would mean the abolishment of Dutch identity, pleading instead for assimilation (see Vasta, 2007;Verkuyten & Zaremba, 2005). ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPTThe quote above indicates that for ethnic minority members, the emphasis on assimilation undermines their ethnic identity and forms an identity threat. Assimilation compromises one's ability to live by one's identity and threatens the value and distinctiveness of the group identity. There is not only anecdotal but also systematic evidence for the fact that ethnic minorities tend to see assimilation as identity undermining and threatening (e.g., Brug & Verkuyten, 2007;Verkuyten, 2005;Wolsko, Park, & Judd, 2...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Assimilation ideology and situational well-being among ethnic minority members

Verkuyten

2010

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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“…Meehl, 1978). When an essencelike cause becomes known, an endophenotype becomes a closed concept, but, contrary to the essentialist beliefs of most laypersons (Haslam & Ernst, 2002), most endophenotypes in psychopathology (including category-like ones) have no essence-like cause and thus remain open concepts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

A Conceptual and Psychometric Framework for Distinguishing Categories and Dimensions.

Boeck¹,

Wilson²,

Acton³

2005

Psychological Review

109

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An important, sometimes controversial feature of all psychological phenomena is whether they are categorical or dimensional. A conceptual and psychometric framework is described for distinguishing whether the latent structure behind manifest categories (e.g., psychiatric diagnoses, attitude groups, or stages of development) is category-like or dimension-like. Being dimension-like requires (a) withincategory heterogeneity and (b) between-category quantitative differences. Being category-like requires (a) within-category homogeneity and (b) between-category qualitative differences. The relation between this classification and abrupt versus smooth differences is discussed. Hybrid structures are possible. Being category-like is itself a matter of degree; the authors offer a formalized framework to determine this degree. Empirical applications to personality disorders, attitudes toward capital punishment, and stages of cognitive development illustrate the approach.

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“…Research into psychological essentialism has been exciting and extensive (for some overviews, see Ahn et al, 2001;Gelman, 2003Gelman, , 2004Murphy, 2002;Rakison & Oates, 2003; for a critique, see Strevens, 2000), with the idea of essentialism explored in a variety of ways and in a range of different domains (e.g., Evans, 2001;Haslam & Ernst, 2002). While modifications to the original theory have been proposed (e.g., Hampton et al, 2007;Hampton et al, 2009;and Malt, 1994, have questioned whether people indeed always think of essences as being unchangeable), and while it is unclear whether adults always use strict essentialist categorization in all tasks (Hampton et al, 2007), it is generally assumed that, at least for natural kinds, some kind of essentialist reasoning is involved in categorization.…”

Section: Psychological Essentialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological essentialist reasoning and perspective taking during reading: A donkey is not a zebra, but a plate can be a clock

Frisson

Wakefield

2011

Mem Cogn

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In an eyetracking study, we examined whether readers use psychological essentialist reasoning and perspective taking online. Stories were presented in which an animal or an artifact was transformed into another animal (e.g., a donkey into a zebra) or artifact (e.g., a plate into a clock). According to psychological essentialism, the essence of the animal did not change in these stories, while the transformed artifact would be thought to have changed categories. We found evidence that readers use this kind of reasoning online: When reference was made to the transformed animal, the nontransformed term ("donkey") was preferred, but the opposite held for the transformed artifact ("clock" was read faster than "plate").

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Essentialist Beliefs About Mental Disorders

Cited by 158 publications

References 22 publications

Assimilation ideology and situational well-being among ethnic minority members

Assimilation ideology and situational well-being among ethnic minority members

A Conceptual and Psychometric Framework for Distinguishing Categories and Dimensions.

Psychological essentialist reasoning and perspective taking during reading: A donkey is not a zebra, but a plate can be a clock

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