Implicit theories about groups and stereotyping: the role of group entitativity

The consequences of holding an entity (i.e., the belief that a group's characteristics are fixed) or incremental (i.e., the belief that a group's characteristics are malleable) implicit theory about groups was examined for stereotyping and perceptions of group entitativity. Two studies showed that implicit theories about groups affect stereotyping by changing perceptions of group entitativity. Study 1 found that entity theorists were more likely to stereotype than incremental theorists and that perception of group entitativity significantly accounted for this relation. In Study 2, implicit theories of groups were manipulated via instruction set and entity theorists stereotyped more and perceived groups as more entitative than incremental theorists. Again, the effect of implicit theory was significantly, although partially, mediated by perceptions of group entitativity. The roles of implicit theories about groups and perceptions of group entitativity are discussed regarding stereotyping.     

Perceived entitativity of social networks

Four studies examined how people perceive entitativity of small and large social networks based on the graphical information of interaction among individuals. Participants rated social network graphs on entitativity while controlling for the number of individuals and connectivity of social relationships. Overall, network connectivity corresponded to the degree of interaction among individuals in a social network. Whereas entitativity of small social networks slowly increased with a higher level of connectivity, entitativity of large social networks rapidly increased with a lower level of connectivity. The difference in the increase rates of entitativity is explained in terms of how individuals typically interact in different sizes of social networks.     

Antecedents of entitativity in categorically and dynamically construed groups

The extent to which a set of people is perceived as a meaningful group, as one entity, is called entitativity. In this paper, we propose that there are two qualitatively different group construals, or ways of thinking, about groups: as dynamic groups or as categorical groups. Two experiments investigated this distinction. An analogy was used to induce these construals by having participants think of the same group (the group “bees”) either dynamically (as the interacting members of a hive) or categorically (as the members of the species). We then gave participants information about a social group and assessed the impact of the construal manipulation on how that information was processed. Study 1 showed that perceivers recall and report different perceptual cues (similarity and interaction characteristics, respectively) when groups are thought of in these different ways. Study 2 showed that judgments of entitativity are differentially based on a group's similarity versus interaction under these different group construals. The results suggest that group construals change the properties on which entitativity is based. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Varieties of groups and the perception of group entitativity

Three studies examined perceptions of the entitativity of groups. In Study 1 (U.S.) and Study 2 (Poland), participants rated a sample of 40 groups on 8 properties of groups (e.g., size, duration, group member similarity) and perceived entitativity. Participants also completed a sorting task in which they sorted the groups according to their subjective perceptions of group similarity. Correlational and regression analyses were used to determine the group properties most strongly related to entitativity. Clustering and multidimensional scaling analyses in both studies identified 4 general types of groups (intimacy groups, task groups, social categories, and loose associations). In Study 3, participants rated the properties of groups to which they personally belonged. Study 3 replicated the results of Studies 1 and 2 and demonstrated that participants most strongly valued membership in groups that were perceived as high in entitativity.     

The stability of social categories

One important thesis Ásta defends in Categories We Live By is that social properties and categories are somehow dependent on our thoughts, attitudes, or practices—that they are inventions of the mind, projected onto the world. Another important aspect of her view is that the social properties are related to certain base properties; an individual is placed in a category when the relevant base properties are thought to hold of them. I see the relationship between the social and the base as connected to the problem of explaining how the social properties are sufficiently stable so as to be taken seriously, both in theoretical endeavors as well as in practical matters of how we relate to each other. In this light, I identify stability constraints for an adequate account of social categories. I argue that certain distinctive aspects of Ásta's conferralist view of social categories, such as the radical contextualism in her account of gender, undermine the stability of categories and are at odds with taking social categories seriously. I end with the suggestion that a distinctive “sheltered” form of normativity might help us do justice to Ásta's insights while avoiding some of the destabilizing elements of conferralism.     

Group entitativity and similarity: Their differing patterns in perceptions of groups

Three studies were conducted to investigate the relation between perceptions of group entitativity and group similarity. The first two studies tested whether entitativity and similarity would be perceived differently in participants' ingroups and outgroups. Across several different group types, we found that, in comparison to outgroups, ingroups were perceived to be relatively more entitative than outgroups, whereas outgroup members were perceived to be highly similar in comparison to ingroup members. The results of Study 3 showed that manipulation of group entitativity influenced perceptions of group entitativity but not of group similarity, whereas manipulation of similarity influenced perceptions of group similarity but not of group entitativity. The results of these studies provide support for the contention that entitativity and similarity are distinct (though related) concepts that function differently in group perception. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The cognitive structure of social categories

Support for the prototype theory of categorization was found in a study of the structure of social categories. Though occupational terms such as DOCTOR are socially defined, they do not have the classical structure their clear definitional origins would predict. Conceptions of social categories are richer and more complex than those of physical object categories and subjects agree upon them. Comparison of various instructions for eliciting attributes of categories showed that whether subjects are asked to define a term, give characteristics, or describe ways they recognize members of categories, the attributes they list contribute to a prototype structure. These data provide evidence against the view that prototype structure is relevant only to an identification procedure and not to the core of concepts, as has been suggested.     

The role of peer groups in male and female adolescents' task values and physical activity

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the role of peer groups and sex in adolescents' task values and physical activity. The participants were 330 Finnish Grade 6 students (173 girls, 157 boys), who responded to questionnaires that assessed physical education task values during the spring semester (Time 1). Students' physical activity was assessed one year later (Time 2). The results indicated that adolescent peer groups were moderately homogeneous in terms of task values toward physical education and physical activity. Girls' peer groups were more homogeneous than those of boys in regards to utility and attainment values. Furthermore, the results for both girls and boys showed that particularly intrinsic task value typical for the peer group predicted group members' physical activity. The findings highlight the important role of peer group membership as a determinant of future physical activity.     

Seniority in the generational transition of laboratory groups: The effects of social familiarity and task experience

The determinants of leadership seniority in laboratory groups were investigated in two experiments. In both experiments a procedure was used in which individual group members were periodically replaced throughout 7 generations. The individuals within the groups folded origami products and traded with other groups so as to earn quarters. In the first experiment the effect of social familiarity on seniority was investigated by comparing a set of standard groups with a set of rotational groups in which the group members moved from group to group between generations and thus always interacted with strangers. There was less seniority in the rotational groups. In the second experiment the effect of experience on seniority was investigated by comparing a set of standard groups with a set of experienced groups in which the new group members were recruited from the standard groups. There was less seniority in the experienced groups. It was found in both experiments, in agreement with previous research, that over generations the subjects earned increasing amounts of money and worked with increasing speed and efficiency.     

Nicknames and sex role stereotypes

Since nicknames are a very fluid component of language, they become a useful tool for revealing current sex role stereotypes. A study of 380 nicknames collected from 175 young women and men ages 14–19 shows that males assign most nicknames and males receive more names based on surnames; also, connotations of strength, largeness, hardness, and maturity are typical of male nicknames. For female nicknames, physical attributes are more important, and connotations are typically of beauty, pleasantness, kindness, and goodness. Nicknames do not reflect much difference in activity, however, a quality that in earlier studies is associated predominantly with males.     

Resolving conflicting social categories: the role of age-related executive ability

We investigated the effect of age-related decline in executive ability on the application of emergent features to incongruent social category conjunctions (e.g., male midwife). When forming an impression of an incongruent conjunction, older adults used more emergent attributes (attributes associated exclusively with the category conjunction and not the constituents), relative to younger adults. Moreover, this relationship was mediated by a reduction in inhibitory ability (measured using a Stroop task) and processing speed (measured using a Digit Symbol Substitution Test, DSST). These findings are consistent with the notion that executive ability is pivotal in understanding social functioning in older adults. We discuss the implications of these findings for the continuing development of models outlining the processes and stages involved in perceiving social category conjunctions.     

Contrast from social stereotypes in automatic behavior

The activation of social stereotypes can influence behavior outside of conscious awareness. It has been argued that while priming social stereotypes leads to behavioral assimilation, priming exemplars leads to behavioral contrast. Extending this theorizing, we argue that the activation of social stereotypes can also result in automatic behavioral contrast if a comparison of the self to the stereotyped group is provoked. This hypothesis is tested with speed and intellectual performance as behavioral measures. In a first study, we show that categorizing perceived others as outgroup members leads to behavioral contrast from their stereotype. The second study shows that subliminally priming the self during the activation of a stereotype to which the self does not belong leads to automatic behavioral contrast from the stereotype. These findings reverse previously found assimilation effects of social stereotype priming. Social comparison processes are discussed as a possible mediator of the results.     

The role of event relevance and congruence to social groups in flashbulb memory formation

ABSTRACT

Flashbulb memories are vivid, confidently held, long-lasting memories for the personal circumstances of learning about an important event. Importance is determined, in part, by social group membership. Events that are relevant to one’s social group, and furthermore, are congruent with the prior beliefs of that group, should be more likely to be retained as flashbulb memories. The Fukushima nuclear disaster was relevant to ongoing political conversations in both Germany and the Netherlands, but, while the disaster was congruent with German beliefs about the dangers of nuclear energy, it was incongruent with Dutch support for nuclear power. Danish participants would not have found the disaster to be particularly relevant. Partially consistent with this prediction, across two samples (N?=?265 and N?=?518), German participants were most likely to have flashbulb memories for the Fukushima disaster. Furthermore, event features thought to be related to flashbulb memory formation (e.g. ratings of importance and consequentiality) also differed as a function of nationality. Spontaneously generated flashbulb memories for events other than Fukushima also suggested that participants reported events that were relevant to national identity (e.g. the Munich attacks for Germans, the Utøya massacre for Danes, and Malaysian Airlines flight MH-17 for Dutch participants).     

Characteristics of work groups and their relationship with social and task cohesion in student teams

Results of an exploratory study of relationships between work-group characteristics and the social and task cohesion of 18 business students engaged in team class projects. Regression analysis of scores on workload sharing, team spirit, task flexibility, and team cohesiveness for scales of the Work Group Characteristics Inventory indicated sharing of the workload was significantly associated with both task and social cohesion; team spirit with task cohesion but not social cohesion; and task flexibility with social cohesion but not task cohesion.     

Changing social stereotypes: The case of the information seeker

Previous research has shown that stereotype-based judgements can be attenuated through the attribution of disconfirming information to individual group members. Typically in these studies, subjects are forced to process all the available in formation, including disconfirming information, before providing their impressions of the group. In the reported research, in contrast, we attempted to create a more naturalistic paradigm by allowing subjects to control the amount and nature of information they received about individual group members. Under these conditions, we expected subjects to instigate a biased information-seeking strategy and display a preference for stereotype-matching rather than stereotype-mismatching information. Our results supported this prediction. When subjects could control the nature and amount of information they received about a target group they showed: (i) a preference for stereotype-matching information and (ii) no change in their stereotypic impressions of the group. When, however, subjects were forced to process all the available information, their stereotypic evaluation of the group diminished. These findings demonstrate the general resistance of stereotypes to change in naturalistic, information-seeking settings.     

The role of goal categories in person impression

After being primed by family terms, or by socially neutral terms, female subjects were provided with characteristics of several women. The characteristics described a target woman in a mother/wife role or in a career woman role and were related to goals, or to means-to-goals typical for these roles. In two studies it appeared that charccteristics with goals, as opposed to means-to-goals information resulted in a better memory for the input (Study 1) and in more elaborated and confident impressions (Study 2). This finding was strongest when there was a congruence between the priming and the characteristics, i.e., when family priming was followed by the family relevant characteristics. The data supported the hypothesis that mental representations structuring the formation of impressions in natural contexts have an action-oriented character, with actor's goal categories as the dominant elements.