 From a young age, we conceive of certain kinds, both natural and social, as having a fundamental, underlying nature that is shared by its members (e.g., Gelman 2003). That is, we believe that, while some kinds may group individuals together on the basis of superficial properties (as an extreme example, consider the kind trinkets), other kinds group their members together on the basis of deep, intrinsic similarities (animal kinds are paradigmatic examples here). Kinds that fall in the latter category are said to be essentialized in the psychological sense. Members of an essentialized kind are believed to be deeply similar to each other—even if they seem to differ superficially—and are believed to share a range of important properties, which are the causal upshot of their shared natures (Gelman 2003). In the social realm, essentialist beliefs can be very damaging, and the groups that are most highly essentialized often face the worst forms of social prejudice (Haslam, Rothschild and Ernst 2000, 2002).