The purpose of this article is to report the results of an experimental study about essentialistic beliefs conducted according to the brain transplant paradigm. A sample of Brazilians (101) and Spaniards (138) were submitted to a mental experiment in a 2 (Country) x 2 (direction of the brain's transplant) design. A log-linear analysis showed no clear main effects of the country, but an interaction between country and brain transfer. The justifications given by the participants were analyzed showing that contextual pressures were adopted to justify the stability of behavior while other type of explanations were mainly used to justify behavioral changes after the presumed brain transplant. The implications of these findings are discussed.
essentialism; naturalism; entitativity; police-men; criminals
