Visible physical traits drive essentialist beliefs that link appearance to deeper traits

Evidence

Allport argued that racial and ethnic categories reflect a pernicious kind of essentialism that shapes the nature of stereotypes ( Jost & Hamilton). These beliefs develop because categories often stem from differences in physical appearance that are visibly salient. Allport noted, “Even a fragment of visibility … focuses people’s minds on the possibility that everything may be related to this fragment” (p. 109); and he observed, “Where visibility does exist, it is almost always thought to be linked with deeper lying traits than is in fact the case” (p. 132). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 113

Categorization

• XREF: Essentialism-from-visibility directly connects to claims already in the vault about phenotype-driven prejudice in the Islamophobia and antisemitism clusters. — connects to: Aesthetic convention can overrule biological health cues in mate preference — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 135; Status-driven dog breeding now overrides health in perceived beauty — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 803; Perceived physical resemblance licenses presumptive knowledge of others’ inner lives — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 70 (+2 more)
• QUESTION: Does fifty-years-on research still support Allport’s visibility→essentialism link, or has contact theory updated it? Warrants chasing in the later chapters.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 113