Entitativity

August 25th, 2021

• > Entitativity in social science, is the perception of a group as a single entity (an entitative group), distinct from its individual members. Operationally, entitativity can also be defined as perceiving a collection of social targets (e.g., individuals) as possessing unity and coherence (e.g., a group). Entitativity is highest for intimacy groups, such as the family, lower for task groups, lower yet for social categories (e.g., people of the same religion), and lowest for transitory groups, such as people waiting at the same bus stop (Lickel et al., 2000).
  • relates to differentiation
  • > Additionally, Campbell (1958) emphasized three cues that individuals can use to make judgments regarding entitativity:
    • common fate (the extent to which individuals in the aggregate seem to experience interrelated outcomes),
    • similarity (the extent to which the individuals display the same behaviors or resemble one another), and
    • proximity (the distance between individuals in the aggregate).