Perceiver Differences and Judgments of Group Entitativity

Most entitativity research has focused on properties of groups that affect how real they seem, rather than on perceiver characteristics. Three studies, involving college student participants, examined personality traits that may relate to entitativity: need to belong, personal need for structure, need for closure, self-monitoring, individualism/collectivism, and cognitive complexity. In Study 1 (N = 429), scales measuring these traits were evaluated and correlations among scale scores were examined. In Study 2 (N = 123), personality scale scores were correlated with responses on two group judgment tasks—participants evaluated pictures of groups and a list of groups for several properties related to entitativity. Participants also indicated any groups on the list to which they belonged. Entitativity for groups in the slides was related only to the need to belong and to the interaction between self-monitoring and personal need for structure. Entitativity for groups on the list was related only to the interaction between cognitive complexity and collectivism. Groups to which participants actually belonged (ingroups) seemed less entitative than outgroups, especially when levels of self-monitoring were low. In Study 3 (N = 100), which was an experiment, participants were either included or excluded in a virtual ball-toss game, which altered their need to belong. They then completed the same group judgment tasks. Inclusion/Exclusion was not related to entitativity at all. Entitativity for groups in the slides was again related to the need to belong, and entitativity for groups on the list was related to individualism/collectivism. Ingroups again seemed less entitative than outgroups. The use of individual difference measures to predict entitativity was discussed, and suggestions for future research were offered.