Research Article

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

  1. Sara A. Crump1,*,
  2. David L. Hamilton2,
  3. Steven J. Sherman3,
  4. Brian Lickel4,
  5. Vinita Thakkar2

Article first published online: 8 DEC 2009

DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.716

Issue

European Journal of Social Psychology

European Journal of Social Psychology

Volume 40, Issue 7, pages 1212–1230, December 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

Crump, S. A., Hamilton, D. L., Sherman, S. J., Lickel, B. and Thakkar, V. (2010), Group entitativity and similarity: Their differing patterns in perceptions of groups. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol., 40: 1212–1230. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.716

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Psychology, Baker University, Baldwin City, KS, USA

  2. 2

    Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

  3. 3

    Department of Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

  4. 4

    Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA

*Department of Psychology, Baker University, P.O. Box 65, Baldwin City, KS 66006, USA.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 8 DEC 2009
  2. Article first published online: 8 DEC 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 9 SEP 2009
  4. Manuscript Received: 4 AUG 2008

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Abstract

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.

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