title: Social categories are shaped by social experience.
abstract: A new study by Rhodes and colleagues offers insight into the development of social essentialism - the belief that members of social categories share essential properties (e.g., attitudes, psychological capacities). The challenge now is to consider these issues in children raised in the more diverse social environments that constitute the range of human experience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. s-waxman@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Sandra R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Waxman
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007802:Language; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011287:Prejudice / Q000523:psychology; D012931:Social Environment; D012938:Social Perception; D013240:Stereotyping