A distinction based on social identity theory and self-categorization theory is made between depersonalized (i.e., group prototypical, stereotypical) social attraction and idiosyncratic personal attraction. Only the former; as the affective component of group cohesiveness, is considered to be related to group belongingness. A questionnaire administered after a training session to 28 members of an Australian football team supported the hypotheses. As predicted, group prototypicality was significantly more closely related to social attraction and to social (group-based) popularity than to personal attraction and personal (non-group-based) popularity. Furthermore, members who were morestrongly identified with the team (e.g., rated themselves as highly prototypical) employed prototypicality as a stronger basis for social attraction than other members did.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abrams, D., & Hogg, M. A. (Eds.). (1990). Social identity theory: Constructive and critical advances. London: Harvester-Wheatsheaf.
2.
Billig, M., & Tajfel, H. (1973). Social categorization and similarity in intergroup behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology, 3, 27-52.
3.
Boyanowsky, E.O., & Allen, V.I. (1975). In-group norms and self-identity as determinants of discriminatory behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 25,408-418.
4.
Brown, R. (1965). Social psychology. New York : Free Press.
5.
Burnstein, E., & McRae, A.V. (1962). Some effects of shared threat and prejudice in racially mixed groups. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 64,257-263.
6.
Carron, A.Y., Widmeyer, W.N., & Brawley, L.R. (1985). The development of an instrument to assess cohesion in sport teams: The Group Environment Questionnaire. Journal of Sport Psychology, 7, 244-266.
7.
Cartwright, D. (1968). The nature of group cohesiveness. In D. Cartwright & A Zander (Eds.), Group dynamics: Research and (3rded,pp.91-109) . London: Tavistock.
8.
Duck, S. (1977). The study of acquaintance. Farnborough, England: Saxon House.
9.
Feshbach, S., & Singer, R. (1957). The effects of personal and shared threats upon social prejudice. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 54, 411-416.
10.
Festinger, L., Schachter, S., & Back, K. (1950). Social pressures in informal groups: A study of human factors in housing. New York: Harper & Row.
11.
Fiske, S.T. (1982). Schema-triggered affect: Applications to social perception. In M. S. Clark & S. T. Fiske (Eds.), Affect and cognition. The 17th Annual Carnegie Symposium on Cognition (pp. 55-78). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
12.
Hogg, M.A. (1985). Cohesion de grupo [Group cohesiveness]. In C. Huici (Dir.), Estructura y procesos de grupo (Vol. 1, pp. 463-486). Madrid: Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.
13.
Hogg, M.A. (1987). Social identity and group cohesiveness. In J. G Turner, M. A. Hogg, P J. Oakes, S. D. Reicher, & M. S. Wetherell, Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory (pp. 89-116). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
14.
Hogg, M.A. (1990a). Group solidarity: Belonging and liking in social groups—11 Unpublished research proposal to the Australian Research Council , University of Queensland.
15.
Hogg, M.A. (1990b). Intergroup relations and group cohesiveness. Unpublished research proposal to the Australian Research Council, University of Queensland.
16.
Hogg, M.A., & Abrams, D. (1988). Social identifications: A social psychology of intergroup relations and group processes. London: Routledge.
17.
Hogg, M.A., & Hardie, E.A. (1989). Group cohesiveness, interpersonal attractian and prototypicality. Unpublished manuscript, University of Queensland.
18.
Hogg, M.A., & Turner, J.C. (1985a). Interpersonal attraction, social identification and psychological group formation. European Journal of Social Psychology15,51-66.
19.
Hogg, M.A., & Turner, J.C. (1985b). When liking begets solidarity: An experiment on the role of interpersonal attraction in psychological group formation. British Journal of Social Psychology, 24,267-281.
20.
Jennings, H.H. (1947a). Sociometric differentiation of the psychegroup and the sociogroup. Sociometry, 10, 71-79.
21.
Jennings, H.H. (1947b). Leadership and sociometric choice. Sociometry. 10, 32-49.
22.
Lott, A.J., & Lott, B.E. (1965). Group cohesiveness as interpersonal attraction . Psychological Bulletin, 64,259-309.
23.
Maccoby, E. (1988). Gender as a social category. Developmental Psychology, 24,755-765.
Minard, R.D. (1952). Race relationships in the Pocahontas coalfield . Journal of Social Issues, 8, 29-44.
26.
Newcomb, T.M. (1960). Varieties of interpersonal attraction. In D. Cartwright &: A. Zander (Eds.), Group dynamics: Research and theory (2nd ed., pp. 104-119). New York: Harper & Row.
27.
Rees, C.R., & Segal, M.W. (1984). Intragroup competition, equity, and Interpersonal attraction. Social Psychology Quarterly, 47, 328-336.
28.
Rubin, Z. (1979). Liking and loving: An invitation to social psychology . New York. Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
29.
Rüttinger, B. (1978). Friendliness and group consensus: Field study . In H. Brandstatter.J. H. Davis, & H. Schuler (Eds.), Dynamics of group decisions (pp. 149-153). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
30.
Schachter, S., Ellertson, N., McBride, D., & Gregory, D. (1951). An experimental study of cohesiveness and productivity . Human Relations, 4,229-238.
31.
Segal, M.W. (1979). Varieties of interpersonal attraction and their interrelationship in natural groups. Social Psychology Quarterly42, 253-261.
32.
sherif, M. (1966). Group conflict and cooperation Their social psychology . London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
33.
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J.C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-47). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
34.
Triandis, H. (1977). Interpersonal behavior. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/ Cole.
35.
Turner, J.C. (1982). Towards a cognitive redefinition of the social group. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), Social identity and intergroup relations (pp. 15-40). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
36.
Turner, J.C. (1984). Social identification and psychological group formation. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), The social dimension European developments in social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 518-538). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
37.
Turner,J C. (1985). Social categorization and the self-concept: A social cognitive theory of group behaviour. In E.J. Lawler (Ed.), Advances in group processes: Theory and reseach (Vol. 2, pp. 77-12 1). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
38.
Turner, J. C., & Giles, H. (Eds.). (1981). Intergroup behaviour. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
39.
Turner, J.C., Hogg, M.A., Oakes, P.J., Reicher, S.D., & Wetherell, M.S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
40.
Turner,J.C., Hogg, M.A., Turner, P.J., & Smith, P.M. (1984). Failure and defeat as determinants of group cohesiveness . British Journal of Social Psychology, 23, 97.111.
41.
Turner,J.C., Sachdev, I., & Hogg, M.A. (1983). Social categorization, interpersonal attraction and group formation. British. Journal of Social Psychology , 22, 227-239.
42.
Zander, A. (1979). The psychology of group processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 30,417-451.
