"Boys will be boys and girls will be girls" : theinterpersonal consequences and functions of essentialistic thinkingabout gender.

Essentialism is the belief that for certain categories, members share deep, underlying, stable "essences" that give rise to many of the observable differences between subgroups. Research has shown that gender is one of the most essentialized categories, and that essentializing gender is strongly associated with endorsement of sexism, system-justifying beliefs, rigid and dispositional thinking about others' behavior, among various intrapersonal consequences. The purpose of the current research was to examine the role of gender essentialism in influencing more interpersonal consequences—that is, perceptions of and behavior towards relational partners. Study 1 examined the relationship between gender essentialism and perspective-taking, a necessary component for effective communication. Studies 2A and 2B explored the role of gender essentialism in predicting the gender diversity of a person's friendship network. The remainder of the research focused specifically on romantic relationships. Study 3 investigated whether people who essentialize gender also find sex-stereotypical traits more attractive in a potential mate. Study 4 examined the relationship between essentializing gender and the types of attributions (e.g., external or internal) people make for their partners' sex-stereotyped (both good and bad) behavior. Finally, Studies 5A and 5B explored the effects that essentializing gender has on engaging in maladaptive conflict resolution strategies. Together, these studies provide a first step towards understanding how conceptions of gender affect people's interpersonal relationships.