Research Symposium

BIO

Natalia Bartko is a sophomore from Winter Garden, Florida, pursuing a dual degree in Criminology and Psychology. As a first-year research student, she investigates how people form spontaneous trait inferences about individuals and groups, focusing on how racial composition influences perceived group unity and impressions. Her current project builds on prior research on group perception by examining how perceived entitativity affects these inferences. Natalia plans to use her research experience and academic training to pursue a career with the FBI, applying insights from psychology and criminology to real-world investigative work.

The Role of Members' Characteristics in First Impressions​

Abstract

It is understood, in person perception research, that perceivers frequently form unintentional spontaneous trait inferences (STIs) based on the observed behavior of others (Uleman et al., 1996), and these trait inferences tend to be diagnostic of the initial impressions that they form and maintain about others (Olcaysoy Okten & Moskowitz, 2020). Similarly, Hamilton and colleagues (2015) provide evidence that perceivers also make spontaneous trait inferences about groups (STIGs). One of their main findings was that STIGs occur similarly for groups perceived high and low in entitativity. Perceived entitativity is the extent to which a group of individuals are perceived as a collective unit or a unified whole. The proposed project extends the research initiatives of Hamilton and colleagues’ (2015) study by building onto their target group manipulation. The purpose of the current work was to design a manipulation of perceived entitativity by adding racial categories to target groups (All Black/ All White/ Combination of Black and White). Specifically, we investigated whether (1) differences of perceived group entitativity would emerge when the physical similarities (i.e., race) of groups differ and (2) whether differences in perceived group entitativity, in turn, would affect STIGS. Our work seeks to offer a critical advancement in understanding how impressions of groups form as a result of shared (or unshared) group member characteristics.

Keywords: Spontaneous Trait Inferences (STI's), Group Entitativity, First Impressions in Groups, Race and Group Perception