Entitativity

Entitativity means the consideration of something as pure entity, i.e., the mental abstraction from attendant circumstances. In psychology, it typically refers to "the perception of a group as pure entity" (an entitative group), abstracted from its attendant individuals. It is different from holistic perception. Operationally, entitativity can also be defined as "perceiving a collection of social targets (e.g., individuals) as possessing unity and coherence (e.g., a group)".

There are two proposed antecedents for the entitativity perception ( [http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=2006+Ip+Chiu+Wan&btnG=Search Ip, Chiu, & Wan, 2006] ):
*physical similarity
*goal/behavior similarity.

References

*Ip, G. W. M., Chiu, C. Y., & Wan, C. (2006). Birds of a feather and birds flocking together: Physical versus behavioral cues may lead to trait- versus goal-based group perception. "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90," 368-381.