Intergroup relations and group solidarity: Effects of group identification and social beliefs on depersonalized attraction

An intergroup extension of M. A. Hogg's (1992, 1993) social attraction hypothesis is proposed. Netball teams were investigated with measures assessing the relationship between (a) objective status; (b) ''social beliefs'' about intergroup status, stability legitimacy, and permeability; (c) group identification, self-categorization, and prototypicality; (d) interpersonal relations and similarity; (e) depersonalized social attraction; and (f) true personal attraction. As predicted, group-membership-based social attraction was directly influenced by self-categorization; indirectly influenced, through self-categorization, by intergroup status and stability beliefs; and uninfluenced by interpersonal relations. Social attraction (related to prototypicality and group identification) was relatively independent of personal attraction (related to similarity and interpersonal variables). Legitimacy, permeability, and the empirical co-occurence of social and personal attraction in cohesive groups are discussed.