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GENDER ESSENTIALISM INCREASES DISPOSITIONAL ATTRIBUTION IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS

Abstract

Previous literature has demonstrated negative consequences of social essentialist beliefs in enhancing social stereotyping and decreasing intergroup contacts. The current study aims to investigate how gender essentialism influences attributions during interpersonal conflict, and how this impact may be moderated by other factors such as relationship satisfaction. Eighty-three undergraduate students attending a public university in Southeast USA read scenarios that may cause conflict in romantic relationship and rated the likelihood of various explanations for the partner’s behavior. Participants also rated how satisfied they were with their current or most recent romantic relationship and their agreement with gender essentialist statements. We found that stronger gender essentialist beliefs were associated with higher tendency of dispositional attribution for partner’s behavior, especially in negative scenarios that would increase conflict. Those who were more satisfied with their relationship resorted to less instances of dispositional attribution within and outside of conflict-inducing scenarios. Additionally, couple satisfaction acted as a buffer for the relationship between gender essentialism and dispositional attribution. Results from the current study suggest that gender essentialism has an impact on interpersonal conflict and can influence the escalation of a conflict situation.

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