The effect of comparative context on central tendency and variability judgements and the evaluation of group characteristics

A study is reported that examines the effects of comparative context on central tendency and variability judgements of groups, and the evaluation of group characteristics. The central assumption is that these social judgements are not absolute, but depend on the social context in which they are grounded. It is demonstrated that people vary their description of the ingroup in terms of central tendency and group variability as a function of the possibility of comparing the ingroup favourably with other groups in the judgemental task. In a similar vein, it is shown that the evaluation of an ingroup characteristic is not fixed, but depends on its relative favourability within the comparative context. The results of this study clearly demonstrate the importance of comparative context in group perception and are discussed with reference to self-categorization theory and alternative models of social judgement.