Perceptions of entitativity are thought to be influenced by salient features such as the physical proximity and physical similarity of group members (Campbell in Behav Sci 3:14–25, 1958). But social interactions among group members... more
Perceptions of entitativity are thought to be influenced by salient features such as the physical proximity and physical similarity of group members (Campbell in Behav Sci 3:14–25, 1958). But social interactions among group members involve a number of low-level alignment (Pickering and Garrod in Behav Brain Sci 27:212–225, 2004) and synchronization (Marsh et al. in Top Cogn Sci 1:320–339, 2009) processes. Conversational partners, for instance, become aligned in syntax, semantics, emotion, and bodily posture. In this paper, we explore whether alignment correlates with observers’ judgments of entitativity, and, moreover, which specific forms of alignment have the strongest effects on these judgments. Results revealed that only emotional alignment had on effect on judgments of entitativity. We discuss how future work may further assess the role of various dimensions in shaping the perception of group status in linguistic interaction.
The extent to which a group is cohesive or entitative has been shown to play a key role in how much perceivers attend to and process group-relevant information. However, less is known about how entitativity may guide the metacognitive... more
The extent to which a group is cohesive or entitative has been shown to play a key role in how much perceivers attend to and process group-relevant information. However, less is known about how entitativity may guide the metacognitive perceptions that people produce toward a group. The current research examined how group message sources that differ in entitativity can influence howconfident people are in their thoughts about a communication. In Study 1, participants rated a highly entitative group as more likely to present valid information compared to a low entitativity source. Consistent with these beliefs, Study 2 participants were more confident and had attitudes that were more reflective of their message-related thoughts when source entitativity was high rather than low. Furthermore, the results of Study 3 suggest these self-validation effects may be contingent on high processing motivation and ability. Implications for the study and practice of persuasion are discussed.
Collective responsibility processes have been investigated from the perspectives of the outgroup (e.g., collective blame) and the ingroup (e.g., collective guilt). This article extends theory and research on collective responsibility with... more
Collective responsibility processes have been investigated from the perspectives of the outgroup (e.g., collective blame) and the ingroup (e.g., collective guilt). This article extends theory and research on collective responsibility with a third perspective, namely that of the individual actor whose behavior triggers the attribution of collective blame. Four experiments (n = 78, 118, 208 and 77, respectively) tested the hypotheses that collective responsibility processes influence the individual actors' appraisals, emotions and behavior. The possibility of collective blame for their individual action prompted more prosocial behavior among participants (Experiment 1). Participants also experienced more ingroup reputation concern and in turn more negative emotions (Experiment 2–4) for a past wrongdoing if it could reflect negatively on the ingroup in the eyes of outgroups. The increased negative emotions then motivated participants to improve the ingroup's image (Experiment 4). The effects were moderated by perceived ingroup entitativity, in that activating collective blame increased ingroup reputation concern and negative emotions only for ingroups perceived as highly entitative (Experiment 3).
Language use plays a crucial role in the consensualization of stereotypes within cultural groups. Based on integrative review of the literature on stereotyping and biased language use, we propose the Social Categories and Stereotypes... more
Language use plays a crucial role in the consensualization of stereotypes within cultural groups. Based on integrative review of the literature on stereotyping and biased language use, we propose the Social Categories and Stereotypes Communication (SCSC) framework. The framework integrates largely independent areas of literature, and explicates the linguistic processes through which social-category stereotypes are shared and maintained. We distinguish two groups of biases in language use that jointly feed and maintain three fundamental cognitive variables in (shared) social-category cognition: perceived category entitativity, stereotype content, and perceived essentialism of associated stereotypic characteristics. These are: (1) Biases in linguistic labels used to denote categories, within which we discuss biases in (a) label content and (b) linguistic form of labels; (2) Biases in describing behaviors and characteristics of categorized individuals, within which we discuss biases in (a) communication content (i.e., what information is communicated), and (b) linguistic form of descriptions (i.e., how is information formulated). Together, these biases create a self-perpetuating cycle in which social-category stereotypes are shared and maintained. The framework allows for a better understanding of stereotype maintaining biases in natural language. We discuss various opportunities for further research.
This paper explores whether perceived entitativity of a group (i.e., how much it is seen as a unit) influences how its apologies are perceived. Because entitative groups are assigned agency and collective responsibility and their members... more
This paper explores whether perceived entitativity of a group (i.e., how much it is seen as a unit) influences how its apologies are perceived. Because entitative groups are assigned agency and collective responsibility and their members are viewed as interchangeable, their apologies were hypothesized to appear more sincere and less due to ulterior motives. This effect emerged with small groups apologizing for minor grievances (Studies 1 and 2), although not always if the apology came from a leader (vs. the whole group). In Study 3, these benefits of entitativity extended to greater liking for the more entitative group, and in the case of a government apologizing for international harm. Whereas past research has emphasized the harmful impact outgroup entitativity can have on intergroup relations, these studies suggest entitativity can have benefits when the intergroup behavior is a beneficial one (e.g., apology).
in: Translation and Transmission. Collection of Articles, J. Hämeen-Anttila & I. Lindstedt (eds.). Series: The Intellectual Heritage of the Ancient and Mediaeval Near East 3, Ugarit-Verlag, Münster, 139-79. Based on the workshop... more
in: Translation and Transmission. Collection of Articles, J. Hämeen-Anttila & I. Lindstedt (eds.). Series: The Intellectual Heritage of the Ancient and Mediaeval Near East 3, Ugarit-Verlag, Münster, 139-79.
Based on the workshop ‘Translation and Transmission in the Eastern Mediterranean , 500 B.C. – 1500 A.D.’, held on 25 September 2015 at the Finnish Institute in Rome.
Purpose: This article examines how varying degrees of media constructed associations between organizations and their home countries affect audience perceptions of such associations and, subsequently, how recipients attribute crisis... more
Purpose: This article examines how varying degrees of media constructed associations between organizations and their home countries affect audience perceptions of such associations and, subsequently, how recipients attribute crisis responsibility and reputational damage to the home country. Additionally, the article investigates if pre-crisis country image can buffer negative effects of the crisis for the country.
Approach: We hypothesize that the strength of actor associations in media reports about crises affects recipients’ cognitive processes of crisis responsibility attribution and, thus, the ‘direction’ of reputational damage (corporation vs. country). Empirically, we analyze a) the effects of different levels of actor association in crisis reports (strong actor association vs. weak actor association) regarding a Chinese corporation in a one-factorial (between-subjects) experimental design; and b) the intervening effect of China’s country image prior to the crisis. Participants for the study lived in Switzerland and the United States.
Findings: The effect of different actor associations presented in the media on perceived association between a corporation and its home country is confirmed. Furthermore, these varying perceptions lead to a) significantly different tendencies in people’s ascriptions of crisis responsibility (corporation vs. country), and b) different degrees of reputational fallout for the home countries. Finally, the data did not confirm a moderating effect of pre-crisis country image on the reputational damage caused by the crisis.
Research implications: The study contributes to the understanding of key factors in the formation of crisis attributions as well as insights for the study of country image and public diplomacy. It provides a new approach for corporate communication and public diplomacy to analyze the complex interdependencies between countries and internationally visible and globally known corporations, which potentially affect the country’s perception abroad.
Originality: The article applies a new conceptual framework and methodology to analyze how both mediated and cognitive associations between different actors influence attribution of responsibility in crises, and how these associations ultimately bear on reputation spillover for the different actors.
Previous research suggests that perceived entitativity, which represents the degree to which groups are perceived to possess unity, coherence, and organization, predicts intergroup stereotyping and bias. The present research yielded... more
Previous research suggests that perceived entitativity, which represents the degree to which groups are perceived to possess unity, coherence, and organization, predicts intergroup stereotyping and bias. The present research yielded complementary evidence that prejudice (toward Muslims in Study 1 and toward South Asians in Study 2) can also predict groups’ perceived entitativity. In particular, Study 1 found that the relationships of two predictors, intergroup contact and social dominance orientation, with perceived entitativity were mediated by prejudice. Study 2 demonstrated, as predicted, that this set of relationships occurred primarily for intergroup attitudes of relatively high certainty. Neither study found support for models in which entitativity mediated the relationships of the predictors with prejudice. Conceptual and analytical factors that may account for evidence of the potential bi-directionality of the bias-entitativity relationship are considered.
Because punishments are expected to give offenders what they deserve proportionally to the severity of their offenses, the punishment of an entire group because of the misdeed of a few of its members is generally considered as unfair.... more
Because punishments are expected to give offenders what they deserve proportionally to the severity of their offenses, the punishment of an entire group because of the misdeed of a few of its members is generally considered as unfair. Group entitativity might increase support for such collective punishment, because members of highly entitative groups are perceived as more similar and interchangeable. We designed three experiments comparing support for third-party collective punishment of low versus high entitative groups. As comparison base-rate, we included conditions in which participants punish an individual wrong-doer (Experiments 1 & 2). Results show that although support for individual punishment is higher than support for collective punishment, this difference was reduced (Experiment 1) or absent (Experiment 2) when the group was highly entitative. Experiment 3 replicated the increasing effect of group entitativity on support for collective punishment. We conclude that group entitativity increases the likelihood of an entire group being treated as a single unit, facilitating collective punishment when a few group members commit an offense.
Coordinated behavior patterns are one of the pillars of social interaction. Researchers have recently shown that movement synchrony influences ratings of rapport, and the extent to which groups are judged to be a unit. The current... more
Coordinated behavior patterns are one of the pillars of social interaction. Researchers have recently shown that movement synchrony influences ratings of rapport, and the extent to which groups are judged to be a unit. The current experiments investigated the hypothesis that observers infer a shared psychological state from synchronized movement rhythms, influencing attributions of rapport and entitativity judgments. Movement rhythms of observed individuals are manipulated between participants (Experiment 1) or kept constant while source of the emerging movement synchrony is manipulated (Experiment 2), and both rapport and perceived entitativity are measured with multiple item questionnaires. The findings support the assumption that movement synchrony increases attributed rapport and perceived entitativity. Furthermore, meditational analyses reveal that the effects of movement synchrony on perceived unity are not purely perceptual in nature, but caused by psychological inferences. Observers infer the degree to which individuals are a social unit from their movement rhythms.
I examine the origins of ordinary racial thinking. In doing so, I argue against the thesis that it is the byproduct of a unique module (e.g. a folk-biology module). Instead, I defend a pluralistic thesis according to which different forms... more
I examine the origins of ordinary racial thinking. In doing so, I argue against the thesis that it is the byproduct of a unique module (e.g. a folk-biology module). Instead, I defend a pluralistic thesis according to which different forms of racial thinking are driven by distinct mechanisms, each with their own etiology. I begin with the belief that visible features are diagnostic of race. I argue that the mechanisms responsible for face recognition have an important, albeit delimited, role to play in sustaining this belief. I then argue that essentialist beliefs about race are driven by some of the mechanisms responsible for "entitativity perception": the tendency to perceive some aggregates of people as more genuine groups than others. Finally, I argue that coalitional thinking about race is driven by a distinctive form of entitativity perception. However, I suggest that more data is needed to determine the prevalence of this form of racial thinking.
People report less variability within in groups than within out groups when they make their ratings on traits on which the in group has a higher central tendency than the out group. Simon, B. (1992a, 1992b) proposed that this effect is... more
People report less variability within in groups than within out groups when they make their ratings on traits on which the in group has a higher central tendency than the out group. Simon, B. (1992a, 1992b) proposed that this effect is motivated by the need to protect a positive social identity. The present research tested the necessity of the social identity motive by using participants who were not members of any of the target groups that they judged. In Study 1 (N = 60), psychology undergraduate students reported significantly less intragroup variability on positive traits among a group of fashion designers that won a fashion competition than among a group that lost. Study 2 (N = 75) found a reverse effect on negative traits and confirmed the mediating role of perceived central tendency. These results demonstrate that the social identity motive is not necessary to explain the effect of central tendency on ratings of intragroup variability, and that the effect is more general than previously reported.
I argue that in addressing worries about the validity and reliability of implicit measures of social cognition, theorists should draw on research concerning "entitativity perception." In brief, an aggregate of people is perceived as... more
I argue that in addressing worries about the validity and reliability of implicit measures of social cognition, theorists should draw on research concerning "entitativity perception." In brief, an aggregate of people is perceived as highly "entitative" when its members exhibit a certain sort of unity. For example, think of the difference between the aggregate of people waiting in line at a bank versus a tight-knit group of friends: the latter seems more "groupy" than the former. I start by arguing that entitativity perception modulates the activation of implicit biases and stereotypes. I then argue that recognizing this modulatory role will help researchers to address concerns surrounding the validity and reliability of implicit measures.
Perceptions of entitativity are thought to be influenced by salient features such as the physical proximity and physical similarity of group members (Campbell in Behav Sci 3:14–25, 1958). But social interactions among group members... more
Perceptions of entitativity are thought to be influenced by salient features such as the physical proximity and physical similarity of group members (Campbell in Behav Sci 3:14–25, 1958). But social interactions among group members involve a number of low-level alignment (Pickering and Garrod in Behav Brain Sci 27:212–225, 2004) and synchronization (Marsh et al. in Top Cogn Sci 1:320–339, 2009) processes. Conversational partners, for instance, become aligned in syntax, semantics, emotion, and bodily posture. In this paper, we explore whether alignment correlates with observers’ judgments of entitativity, and, moreover, which specific forms of alignment have the strongest effects on these judgments. Results revealed that only emotional alignment had on effect on judgments of entitativity. We discuss how future work may further assess the role of various dimensions in shaping the perception of group status in linguistic interaction.
Die angloamerikanischen Katalogisierungsregeln AACR werden in naher Zukunft von den RDA abgelöst. Eine Einführung dieses Standards in Deutschland wird Auswirkungen auf die Katalogisierung in den Bibliotheken haben. Ziel der Arbeit ist es,... more
Die angloamerikanischen Katalogisierungsregeln AACR werden in naher Zukunft von den RDA abgelöst. Eine Einführung dieses Standards in Deutschland wird Auswirkungen auf die Katalogisierung in den Bibliotheken haben. Ziel der Arbeit ist es, einen Eindruck in die formale Erschließung mittels des RDA - Regelwerks zu geben. Anhand eines umfangreichen mehrbändigen Werkes (J. von Staudingers Kommentar zum BGB) wird die granulare Erschließung anhand RDA auf Basis der FRBR und der FRAD genauer untersucht. Die Entitäten „Werk“, „Expression“, Manifestation“, „Exemplar“ und „Person“ werden mittels des Kernelementsets der RDA angesetzt. Formelle und materielle Probleme sowie Widersprüche in den aktuellen Entwürfen des JSC von 2008 werden beschrieben und Lösungsvorschläge unterbreitet. Die Arbeit gelangt zu dem Ergebnis, dass die Einführung der RDA in Deutschland mit einer institutionellen Reform der Verbundsysteme hin zu einer kooperativen Form der Erschließung einhergehen muss.
