Social categories group people based on shared characteristics without necessitating interaction among them. Essentialism posits that members of a social category possess a fundamental essence distinguishing them from others. This belief leads to the view that category boundaries are fixed and that membership may have biological underpinnings. Essentializing social categories, such as gender, allows for predictions about members' behaviors and attitudes. An example is the baby boomers, a group defined by a specific birth range, which is viewed as having immutable qualities.
Essentialism is the belief that members of a category share an inherent and immutable essence or core that distinguishes them from non-members (Gelman, 2003). Most people, for example, believe that living things are fundamentally different from non-living things.
In essentialist thinking, a category's boundaries are perceived to be objective and fixed. The category itself is found in nature; it is not a social construction or convention.
Membership in an essentialized social category can be used to infer the likely behavior and attitudes of category members. If 'maleness' is innate and unchanging, then a man can be expected to think and act in particular ways.
Consider the social category of baby boomers, which refers to Americans born between 1946 and 1964. Is it an essential category? As a cohort, boomers share something that is fundamental and immutable.
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