Rigid social categorization can lead to negative social consequences such as stereotyping and prejudice. The authors hypothesized that bodily experiences of fluidity would promote fluidity in social-categorical thinking. Across a series of experiments, fluid movements compared with nonfluid movements led to more fluid lay theories of social categories, more fluidity in social categorization, and consequences of fluid social-categorical thinking, decreased stereotype endorsement, and increased concern for social inequalities. The role of sensorimotor states in fluid social cognition, with consequences for social judgment and behavior, is discussed.
Home » Psychology articles » Fluid Movement and Fluid Social Cognition: Bodily Movement Influences Essentialist Thought
Fluid Movement and Fluid Social Cognition: Bodily Movement Influences Essentialist Thought
October 23, 2013 by NewsBot