Social Classification Occurs at the Subgroup Level

Evidence Based on a Multidimensional Scaling Study

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5338780
AutoresSven Pattyn (Ghent University), Yves Rosseel (0000-0002-4129-4477, Ghent University Hospital), Frank Van Overwalle (0000-0002-2538-9847, Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Alain Van Hiel (0000-0003-2286-737X, Ghent University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2015
Volumen46
Número1
Páginas13-23
Fecha de publicación2015-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1864-9335 • E-ISSN: 2151-2590
EditorialHogrefe Publishing Group (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1027/1864-9335/a000217
OpenAlexW2151354196
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas39

Although the categorization of novel social stimuli according to general qualities of gender, age, and race is known to be automatic and primordial, categorizing stimuli into more specific social subgroups (e.g., hippies or businesswomen) is much more informative and cognitively efficient. In this paper, we show that social stimuli are more likely to be grouped into subgroups with an intermediate degree of specificity than into broad, general categories or narrow, highly specific categories. Furthermore, we show that category membership at the intermediate subgroup level predicts social judgments more efficiently than category membership at a more general or more specific level. We discuss the consequences of our results for social cognition and cognitive categorization

Categorization · Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Linguistics · Perception · Race (biology) · Social category · Social cognition · Social group · Social perception · Cultural Differences and Values · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology