Oddly Wired
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cognition

You believe every category has a hidden, unchanging truth.

Psychological essentialism explains your tendency to assume that groups—like gender or race—possess an immutable, internal 'essence'.

This happens regardless of the actual evidence for environmental or social influence. You treat superficial labels as if they identify a fundamental, biological, or moral category that cannot be altered, even when that belief is logically baseless.

Your mind tries to sort a complex world into rigid boxes.

Where this comes from

Study
Medin and Ortony, 1989
What the check found
Medin and Ortony 1989 is the correct foundational citation for psychological essentialism. The reference text does not contain the quote, but the attribution is accurate.
Confidence
Solid, with limits

Related

One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.