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Collective recognition and function in concepts of institutional social groups
Alexander Noyes1, Frank C Keil1
1Department of Psychology, Yale University.
Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
|November 8, 2019
Summary
People understand groups as existing through recognition or function. Beliefs about group existence depend on whether collective recognition or the group
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Social Psychology
- Philosophy of Social Science
Background:
- Investigates ordinary concepts of institutional groups, such as clubs, companies, and academic departments.
- Examines beliefs about how groups exist and persist over time.
- Focuses on whether group persistence is grounded in collective recognition or functional realization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the dual-character nature of social groups.
- To understand the causal beliefs underlying group existence and persistence.
- To determine the influence of collective recognition versus functional realization on group conceptualization.
Main Methods:
- Employs a transformation paradigm to study causal beliefs about groups.
- Conducts multiple studies (1-8) to examine different aspects of group conceptualization.
- Analyzes participants' judgments regarding group existence and persistence.
Main Results:
- Default beliefs suggest groups persist through collective recognition by members or third parties.
- A second sense of 'true' group existence emerges, grounded in the group's functional realization.
- Ideological commitments significantly influence judgments about a group's true existence.
Conclusions:
- Social groups possess a dual-character nature, understood through both recognition and function.
- Disagreements about a group's true existence can arise even with agreement on factual circumstances.
- Findings have implications for theories of conceptual representation and social cognition.
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