People perceive groupness either through stable shared traits or through goal-driven process

Evidence

Specifically, the essence theory of entitativity emphasizes the general attributes (traits, stereotypes) characterizing a group, focuses on similarity and consistency among group members in their attributes and behaviors, highlights clear intergroup distinctions in these regards, and views the group as being consistent across time. In contrast, the agency theory of entitativity is process oriented, emphasizing a group’s goals; expects heterogeneity among group members; considers the group’s relations with (rather than similarities or differences with) outgroups; and expects dynamic change in the group over time. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 228

Categorization

Category: Definitional Content

• DEFINE: Defines the two competing theories of perceived groupness: essence (traits/similarity/outgroup distinctions/stability) vs agency (goals/heterogeneity/ingroup-outgroup relations/change).

Related

• Perceivers can judge a group’s unity either by shared traits or by shared goals (similarity 0.92)
• People apply distinct essence and agency theories when perceiving group entitativity (similarity 0.90)
• Group essence theories differ from similarity-based entitativity by treating groups as natural kinds (similarity 0.88)
• Groups can be perceived as groups through agency and purpose (similarity 0.87)
• Groups perceived as unified are processed like single persons (similarity 0.87)
• Groups are seen as groups when they act coherently toward goals (similarity 0.86)
• Perceiving a group as an entity precedes stereotyping and discrimination against it (similarity 0.86)
• High member interaction, shared attributes, and common goals increase perceived group entitativity. (similarity 0.86)
• Perceived agency correlates with entitativity more strongly than homogeneity or essence does (similarity 0.85)
• Perceived group activity and entitativity mutually imply each other (similarity 0.85)
• Perceived cohesion within a group triggers person-like processing of its members. (similarity 0.85)
• Research neglects perceived entitativity of the intimacy and task groups people actually live in (similarity 0.84)
• Groups perceived as entitative reduce members’ self-concept uncertainty most effectively (similarity 0.84)
• Groups perceived as highly unified are treated like individual persons in impression formation. (similarity 0.83)
• Perceived entitativity of a group shapes stereotyping and member interchangeability (similarity 0.83)