Psychological essentialism refers to the tendency to view entities as having enduring properties that make them what they are (i.e., essences). Emerging research suggests people possess a positivity bias in essentialism (PBE), a preference to view positively (vs. negatively) evaluated attributes as the essences of an entity. Four experiments (total N = 1020) tested group attributes' association (ingroup vs. outgroup) as a boundary condition of PBE. We expected PBE to be stronger for ingroup than for outgroup and this difference to be accentuated by (a) identity centrality and (b) self-uncertainty. In Studies 1–3, we asked participants to generate one positive attribute and one negative attribute for ingroup and outgroup respectively and measured PBE. PBE was found to be stronger for ingroup attributes and was even reversed for outgroup attributes. Identity centrality, but not self-uncertainty, accentuated this effect. In the pre-registered Study 4, we asked participants to generate as many attributes as possible and replicated the main findings. Moreover, we found differences in PBE, along with intergroup affect, prospectively accounted for intergroup cooperative intentions. The findings suggest that essentialist beliefs about attributes are constrained by collective self-enhancement and have unique implications in intergroup contexts.

心理本质主义是指将实体视为具有持久属性的倾向，这些属性使它们成为它们的样子（即本质）。新兴研究表明，人们对本质主义 (PBE) 存在积极偏见，倾向于将积极（而不是消极）评估的属性视为实体的本质。四项实验（总共 N = 1020）测试了群体属性关联（内群体与外群体）作为 PBE 的边界条件。我们预计内群体的 PBE 比外群体更强，并且（a）身份中心性和（b）自我不确定性会加剧这种差异。在研究 1-3 中，我们要求参与者分别为内群体和外群体生成一种积极属性和一种消极属性，并测量 PBE。研究发现 PBE 对于内群体属性更强，对于外群体属性甚至相反。身份中心性而非自我不确定性加剧了这种效应。在预先注册的研究 4 中，我们要求参与者生成尽可能多的属性并重复主要发现。此外，我们发现 PBE 的差异以及群体间的影响可以前瞻性地解释群体间的合作意图。研究结果表明，关于属性的本质主义信念受到集体自我增强的限制，并且在群体间背景下具有独特的含义。