Group Variation in Interpersonal Perception

• In Event: 373 - Regular Session. Group Processes 3

Abstract

Data and methodological limitations have inhibited study of how interpersonal perception may vary between groups with different forms of social organization. Attribution theory suggests inferring dispositions relies on contrasts between an attributee and regularities in the social environment. I argue that groups' formal properties contribute to differences in attribution by shaping patterns of interaction that constitute such backdrops and the place of other personal characteristics in perceptual rules. I draw on item response theory and multilevel modeling to develop a suitable statistical framework for testing related hypotheses. Using data from the Urban Communes Project, I find group members’ average attributions of instrumental and expressive dispositions are lower in larger groups and those with absentee charismatic leaders. Contrary to expectations, associations for attributee gender and status are unassociated with group size, status differentiation, or form of authority. An implication is that these formal aspects of groups may matter more for the perceptual backdrop against which attributors draw contrasts than for the perceptual rules attributors apply to map status and gender to particular dispositions.

Author

• James Murphy, University of Chicago