Multidimensional scaling analyses of the perceived social structure of informal groups.

Four groups of student hallmates provided similarity ratings of each other, and they rated each other on various characteristics. Group-level multidimensional scaling analyses suggested that there was no consensual social structure in any of the four groups. In contrast, individual-level analyses found that individuals had coherent perceptions of the social structures of their groups, although no 2 members of any group perceived the social structure of their group similarly. Nevertheless, there was considerable similarity among people in the dimensions underlying their perceived structures. Conventionality, friendliness, influence, and interpersonal openness served as organizing dimensions for the majority of participants, and sense of humor, how hard it was to get along with people, introversion, interesting, and academic orientation were important bases for about a third of the participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group entitativity and group perception: Associations between physical features and psychological judgment.

Two experiments tested whether the perceived entitativity of groups (i.e., cohesiveness) influences judgments about those groups, in terms of both their observable physical properties and underlying psychological traits. Entitativity was manipulated with groups whose members were similar or dissimilar in skin color. Experiment 1 demonstrated that beliefs about entitativity elicited more accurate judgments of skin color for entitative than nonentitative social groups, although memory for individual members of entitative groups was relatively impoverished. Experiment 2 revealed that entitative groups were viewed as not only physically similar but also psychologically homogeneous and elicited strong negative trait and behavioral judgments. Together, these findings suggest that physical properties (e.g., similarity) can create perceptions of psychological "groupness" that have important consequences for group perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification and leadership in small groups: Salience, frame of reference, and leader stereotypicality effects on leader evaluations.

Two studies tested the prediction that people who identify strongly with a group base leadership perceptions on the group prototypicality of the leader whereas leadership schemas diminish in importance. Leadership and prototypicality were operationalized as relational constructs grounded in people's salient social comparative frame of reference. Study 1 (N?=?82) had participants nominate a group leader and measured perceptions of the leader relative to nonleaders on leadership effectiveness, group prototypicality, and leadership stereotypicality. In Study 2 (N?=?164) prototypicality, stereotypicality, and group salience were experimentally manipulated. As predicted, leadership stereotypicality became a weaker basis for leadership among high identifiers. The role of prototypicality in leadership was complexly affected by identification, which (a) accentuated leader-follower similarity on perceived prototypicality and leadership effectiveness, (b) changed the salient frame of reference, and (c) thus changed relative prototypicality of group members and leadership perceptions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Target entitativity: Implications for information processing about individual and group targets.

It is hypothesized that perceptions of entitativity (i.e., seeing social targets as possessing unity and coherence) have important implications for how one organizes information about, and forms impressions of, individual and group targets. When perceivers expect entitativity, they should form an integrated impression of the target, resulting in on-line judgments. However, when perceivers expect little entitativity, they should not process target-relevant information in an integrative fashion, resulting in memory-based judgments. Although many factors affect perceptions of entitativity, the current study focused on expectations of similarity and behavioral consistency. It was predicted that in general, perceivers expect greater entitativity for individual than group targets. However, when explicitly provided with similar expectancies of entitativity, information processing would be similar for both individual and group targets. Two experiments supported these predictions, using recall, memory-judgment correlation, and illusory correlation measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal and intrapsychic adaptiveness of trait self-enhancement: A mixed blessing?

Reactions to trait self-enhancers were investigated in 2 longitudinal studies of person perception in discussion groups. Groups of 4–6 participants met 7 times for 20 min. After Meetings 1 and 7, group members rated their perceptions of one another. In Study 1, trait self-enhancement was indexed by measures of narcissism and self-deceptive enhancement. At the first meeting, self-enhancers made positive impressions: They were seen as agreeable, well adjusted, and competent. After 7 weeks, however, they were rated negatively and gave self-evaluations discrepant with peer evaluations they received. In Study 2, an independent sample of observers (close acquaintances) enabled a pretest index of discrepancy self-enhancement: It predicted the same deteriorating pattern of interpersonal perceptions as the other three trait measures. Nonetheless, all self-enhancement measures correlated positively with self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Birds of a feather and birds flocking together: Physical versus behavioral cues may lead to trait- versus goal-based group perception.

Entitativity perception refers to the perception of a collection of individuals as a group. The authors propose 2 perceptual-inferential bases of entitativity perception. First, perceivers would expect a collection of individuals with similar physical traits to possess common psychological traits. Second, perceivers watching a group of individuals engage in concerted behavior would infer that these individuals have common goals. Thus, both similarity in physical traits (e.g., same skin color) and concerted collective behavior (e.g., same movement) would evoke perception of group entitativity. Results from 5 experiments show that same group movement invariably leads to common goal inferences, increased perceived cohesiveness, and increased perceived entitativity. Moreover, same skin color evokes inferences of group traits and increases perceived homogeneity and perceived entitativity but only when skin color is diagnostic of group membership. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trust, variability in relationship evaluations, and relationship processes.

Little is known about why some people experience greater temporal fluctuations of relationship perceptions over short periods of time, or how these fluctuations within individuals are associated with relational processes that can destabilize relationships. Two studies were conducted to address these questions. In Study 1, long-term dating partners completed a 14-day diary study that assessed each partner's daily partner and relationship perceptions. Following the diary phase, each couple was videotaped trying to resolve the most important unresolved problem from the diary period. As predicted, (a) individuals who trusted their partners less reported greater variability in perceptions of relationship quality across the diary period; (b) they also perceived daily relationship-based conflict as a relatively more negative experience; and (c) greater variability in relationship perceptions predicted greater self-reported distress, more negative behavior, and less positive behavior during a postdiary conflict resolution task (rated by observers). The diary results were conceptually replicated in Study 2a, in which older cohabiting couples completed a 21-day diary. These same participants also took part in a reaction-time decision-making study (Study 2b), which revealed that individuals tend to compartmentalize positive and negative features of their partners if they (individuals) experienced greater variability in relationship quality during the 21-day diary period and were involved in higher quality relationships. These findings advance researchers' understanding of trust in intimate relationships and provide some insight into how temporal fluctuations in relationship quality may undermine relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Working Models of Attachment Shape Perceptions of Social Support: Evidence From Experimental and Observational Studies.

Two studies examined the association between attachment style and perceptions of social support. Study 1 (N = 95 couples) used an experimental paradigm to manipulate social support in the context of a stressful task. Insecure participants (anxious and avoidant) who received low-support messages appraised these messages more negatively, rated a prior behavioral interaction with their partner as having been less supportive, and performed significantly worse at their task compared with secure participants. Study 2 (N = 153 couples) used a similar paradigm except that partners were allowed to send genuine support messages. Insecure participants (especially fearful) perceived their partners' messages as less supportive, even after controlling for independent ratings of the messages and relationship-specific expectations. These studies provide evidence that individuals are predisposed to appraise their support experiences in ways that are consistent with their chronic working models of attachment, especially when the support message is ambiguous. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-regulation and extended now: Controlling the self alters the subjective experience of time.

These studies investigated self-regulation and subjective experience of time from the perspective of the regulatory resource model. Studies 1-2 showed that participants who were instructed to regulate their emotions while viewing a film clip perceived that the film lasted longer than participants who did not regulate their emotions. In Study 3, participants provided time estimates during a resource-depleting or nondepleting task. Subsequent task persistence was measured. Time perceptions mediated the effect of initial self-regulation on subsequent self-regulated performance. In Study 4, participants performed either a resource-depleting or a nondepleting thought-listing task and then performed a different regulatory task. Compared with nondepleted participants, depleted participants persisted less on the 2nd task but estimated that they had persisted longer. Subjective time estimates statistically accounted for reduced persistence after depletion. Together, results indicate people believe that self-regulatory endeavors last overly long, a belief that may result in abandonment of further self-control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of help seeking: Relations between perceived reasons for classroom help-avoidance and help-seeking behaviors in an experimental context.

It was predicted that orientations to help-avoidance (HA) would predict styles of help seeking (HS). In Study 1, a total of 1,029 pupils aged 10–12 years rated reasons for HA in math class. Ratings formed 3 factors reflecting autonomous strivings for independent mastery, ability-focused concerns to mask poor ability, and expedient perceptions that help would not expedite task completion. In Study 2, a total of 272 pupils who had endorsed one or another HA orientation could request help for math problems. An autonomous orientation was associated with autonomous HS, which promoted independent mastery, and an expedient orientation with executive HS, which expedited task completion. Pupils, especially boys, with an ability-focused orientation exhibited avoidant-covert HS: they requested least help and were most likely to cheat. HS was moderated by perceived threat to competence (ability-focused orientation) but not by perceived competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parameters of social identity.

Two studies establish distinct types of social and collective identities (Study 1) and describe dimensions that differentiate among identities (Studies 1 and 2). In Study 1, individuals (N?=?50) sorted 64 social identities on the basis of perceived similarity; 259 respondents provided trait property ratings of the identities. Cluster analysis indicated 5 types of social identity: personal relationships, vocations/avocations, political affiliations, ethnic/religious groups, and stigmatized groups. Multidimensional scaling analysis shows that identities differ on several trait properties, including desirability and collectivity. In Study 2, 171 people rated the similarity of identities within a specific cluster; 193 respondents provided trait property ratings. Results indicate that different trait properties are relevant to each cluster. The theoretical importance of distinguishing among forms of social identification is stressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Source entitativity and the elaboration of persuasive messages: The roles of perceived efficacy and message discrepancy.

Compared with nonentitative groups, entitative targets are considered to elicit more elaborative processing because of the singularity or unity they represent. However, when groups serve as sources of persuasive messages, other dynamics may operate. The current research suggests that entitativity is intrinsically linked to perceptions of a group’s efficacy related to the advocacy, and this efficacy combines with the position of the appeal to determine message elaboration. When messages are counterattitudinal, entitative (efficacious) sources should elicit greater processing than nonentitative groups because of concern that the entitative sources may be more likely to bring about the negative outcomes proposed. However, when appeals are proattitudinal, sources low in entitativity (nonefficacious) should initiate more elaboration due to concern that they may be unlikely to facilitate the positive outcomes proposed. These hypotheses were supported in a series of studies. Preliminary studies established the entitativity–efficacy relation (Studies 1A and 1B). Primary persuasion studies showed that manipulations of source entitativity (Studies 2 and 3) and source efficacy (Studies 4A and 4B) have opposite effects on processing as a function of message discrepancy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of power on perceived and objective group variability: Evidence that more powerful groups are more variable.

The perception of group variability is affected by social power and status. Three different mechanisms may be responsible for these effects: (1) the power of the perceiver affects perceived group variability; (2) the power of the perceived group affects its perceived variability; and (3) the power of the group affects its actual variability. Two studies are reported to tease apart these three mechanisms and provide support for the third. In the first study, high- and low-power groups interacted and subsequently judged each other. In the second study, participants observed and rated the Study 1 groups, either knowing their power relationship or not. Results suggest that members of high-power groups manifest greater interpersonal variability than members of low-power groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment working models and cognitive openness in close relationships: A test of chronic and temporary accessibility effects.

In 3 studies the authors explored the impact of chronic and temporary accessibility of attachment working models on cognitive openness in the realm of close relationships. In Study 1, participants rated their attachment style and perceptions of their romantic partner. In Study 2, they recalled a relationship defined by a particular attachment orientation and rated perceptions of the targeted partner. Study 3 was similar to Study 1, but secure attachment was primed for half of the participants. In all the studies, cognitive openness was assessed by changes in the perception of the partner after being exposed to information that disconfirmed expectations. Secure attachment was related to higher cognitive openness and better recall of expectation-incongruent information, mainly when this information was positively valued. The discussion emphasizes the implications of the chronic and contextual aspects of attachment working models for information processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why do dominant personalities attain influence in face-to-face groups? The competence-signaling effects of trait dominance.

Individuals high in the personality trait dominance consistently attain high levels of influence in groups. Why they do is unclear, however, because most group theories assert that people cannot attain influence simply by behaving assertively and forcefully; rather, they need to possess superior task abilities and leadership skills. In the present research, the authors proposed that individuals high in trait dominance attain influence because they behave in ways that make them appear competent--even when they actually lack competence. Two studies examined task groups using a social relations analysis of peer perceptions (D. A. Kenny & L. LaVoie, 1984). The authors found that individuals higher in trait dominance were rated as more competent by fellow group members, outside peer observers, and research staff members, even after controlling for individuals' actual abilities. Furthermore, frequency counts of discrete behaviors showed that dominance predicts the enactment of competence-signaling behaviors, which in turn predicts peer ratings of competence. These findings extend researchers' understanding of trait dominance, hierarchies in groups, and perceptions of competence and abilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social disadvantage and the self-regulatory function of justice beliefs.

Five studies support the hypothesis that beliefs in societal fairness offer a self-regulatory benefit for members of socially disadvantaged groups. Specifically, members of disadvantaged groups are more likely than members of advantaged groups to calibrate their pursuit of long-term goals to their beliefs about societal fairness. In Study 1, low socioeconomic status (SES) undergraduate students who believed more strongly in societal fairness showed greater intentions to persist in the face of poor performance on a midterm examination. In Study 2, low SES participants who believed more strongly in fairness reported more willingness to invest time and effort to achieve desirable career outcomes. In Study 3, ethnic minority participants exposed to a manipulation suggesting that fairness conditions in their country were improving reported more willingness to invest resources in pursuit of long-term goals, relative to ethnic minority participants in a control condition. Study 4 replicated Study 3 using an implicit priming procedure, demonstrating that perceptions of the personal relevance of societal fairness mediate these effects. Across these 4 studies, no link between fairness beliefs and self-regulation emerged for members of advantaged (high SES, ethnic majority) groups. Study 5 contributed evidence from the World Values Survey and a representative sample (Inglehart, Basa?ez, Diez-Medrano, Halman, & Luijkx, 2004). Respondents reported more motivation to work hard to the extent that they believed that rewards were distributed fairly; this effect emerged more strongly for members of lower SES groups than for members of higher SES groups, as indicated by both self-identified social class and ethnicity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Culture as common sense: Perceived consensus versus personal beliefs as mechanisms of cultural influence.

The authors propose that culture affects people through their perceptions of what is consensually believed. Whereas past research has examined whether cultural differences in social judgment are mediated by differences in individuals’ personal values and beliefs, this article investigates whether they are mediated by differences in individuals’ perceptions of the views of people around them. The authors propose that individuals who perceive that traditional views are culturally consensual (e.g., Chinese participants who believe that most of their fellows hold collectivistic values) will themselves behave and think in culturally typical ways. Four studies of previously well-established cultural differences found that cultural differences were mediated by participants’ perceived consensus as much as by participants’ personal views. This held true for cultural differences in the bases of compliance (Study 1), attributional foci (Study 2), and counterfactual thinking styles (Study 3). To tease apart the effect of consensus perception from other possibly associated individual differences, in Study 4, the authors experimentally manipulated which of 2 cultures was salient to bicultural participants and found that judgments were guided by participants’ perception of the consensual view of the salient culture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Impact of Perceived Loafing and Collective Efficacy on Group Goal Processes and Group Performance

This paper presents two studies investigating the influence of social perceptions (perceived loafing, collective efficacy, and cohesion) on group goal processes (difficulty and commitment) and group performance. The role of group goal processes as mediators of the relationships between social perception variables and group performance was also tested. The first study involved a sample of 247 college students in 59 groups working on a team interdependent, divisible academic task. Results supported all but one hypothesis. The mediation hypothesis was not supported as both group goal and social perception variables related similarly to group performance. The second study employed a different design to address some limitations of the first study and to extend those findings. Results from the second study, using 383 college students in 101 groups, were consistent with Study 1 with two exceptions. First, the mediation hypothesis was supported in Study 2, replicating the findings of Klein and Mulvey (1995). Second, anticipated lower effort and the sucker effect, additional intervening variables examined in Study 2, partially mediated the relationship between perceived loafing and collective goal difficulty as hypothesized. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.