Entitativity and similarity are empirically distinct group properties

Evidence

Lickel et al. found that several of the variables—interaction, importance, similarity, shared outcomes, and shared goals—were the primary predictors of entitativity. Moreover, consistent with Campbell’s observations, the groups varied widely in the extent to which they were perceived as having entitativity. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 217 (#complicates, via linked claim)

A few years after The Nature of Prejudice was published, Donald Campbell (1958) grappled with the issue of how people perceive groups as coherent entities. He suggested that perceptions of entitativity could be based on cues such as proximity and similarity as well as conceptual cues such as cohesiveness and interdependence. The fundamental issue of how the “groupness” of a group is perceived - after lying dormant for an extended period - has become the focus of a great deal of research in the last decade (for reviews, see Hamilton, Sherman, & Castelli, 2002; Yzerbyt, Corneille, & Estrada, 2001). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1377 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Group essence theories differ from similarity-based entitativity by treating groups as natural kinds — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 242; High member interaction, shared attributes, and common goals increase perceived group entitativity. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 217; In-groups can cohere by homogeneity or by shared structure — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1620 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• High member interaction, shared attributes, and common goals increase perceived group entitativity. #complicates (0.78) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 217
• Perceived group unity arises from proximity, similarity, and interdependence cues #complicates (0.74) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1377