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Relational to Collective: Significant-Other Representations, Ethnic Categories, and Intergroup Perceptions

New York University, adil{at}nyu.edu

Susan M. Andersen

New York University, susan.andersen{at}nyu.edu

Social perception is known to be affected by the social-cognitive process of transference—that is, by a new person bearing a minimal resemblance to a significant other, which activates the significant-other representation and indirectly the relational self. We examined relational processes in social identity and intergroup bias in two studies testing the dual hypothesis—that activating a significant-other representation in transference activates the significant other's ethnic category, which is then applied to the new person, and that under this circumstance the participant's own ethnic identity should also be activated as the relational self is activated, particularly if the participant shares the significant other's ethnicity. This should lead to shifts in intergroup bias as moderated by the ethnic diversity of the significant other's own social network. The evidence largely supports this, revealing the interplay of relational and collective levels of self.

Key Words: transference • relational self • significant other • exemplar • social identity • intergroup bias

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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 33, No. 12, 1714-1726 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167207307486


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Adil Saribay, S. Articles by Andersen, S. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Adil Saribay, S. Articles by Andersen, S. M. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Family Issues Social Bookmarking                         What's this?