Exclusive cultural “legacy”: Cultural essentialism increases derogation of outgroup’s use of shared culture

Cultural exchange has been a hallmark of human history, yet it is not always positively received. In particular, people sometimes express strong disapproval toward other groups' use of cultural elements they consider their own—a reaction commonly referred to as cultural appropriation. Prior research attributes such responses to power asymmetries or concerns about identity distinctiveness. However, we argue that such derogation can also arise in the context of shared culture, and is not fully explained by these group-based factors. Instead, we propose that a set of lay beliefs known as cultural essentialism—the belief that culture is inherent, stable, and exclusive—plays a critical role. Across four studies (total N = 3,371) conducted in East Asian cultural contexts, we show that cultural essentialism is associated with (Studies 1–2) and causally increases (Studies 3–4) negative evaluations of outgroup engagement with shared cultural practices. This effect is mediated by collective psychological ownership threat and further amplified when the outgroup is perceived as culturally similar (Studies 2 and 4). Importantly, the effect of cultural essentialism persists above and beyond the influence of ingroup identification, outgroup attitude, and distinctiveness threat. Studies 3–4 additionally demonstrate that cultural essentialism promotes more exclusive cultural behavioral intentions. These findings suggest that cultural essentialism contributes to intergroup cultural tension by activating ownership-related concerns, independent of cultural identity or power asymmetry.