Visibility and anonymity effects on attraction and group cohesiveness MARTIN LEA 1 * , RUSSELL SPEARS 2 AND SUSAN E. WATT 3 1 University of Manchester, UK 2 University of Cardiff, UK 3 University of New England, Australia Abstract This study investigated attraction and group cohesiveness under different visibility and anonymity conditions for social categories that differed in their capacity to be visually cued. Using computer- mediated communication in 36 mixed gender (visually cued category) and nationality (non-visually cued category) groups, we manipulated social category salience (via discussion topic), and anonymity versus visibility (via live video links). Under high salience, the effects of anonymity versus visibility were moderated by availability of visible category cues. Visibility increased attraction and cohesive- ness for visually cued groups, whereas anonymity increased attraction and cohesiveness for non- visually cued groups. Path analysis showed that, under high salience, effects of visibility and anonymity were mediated by self-categorization processes, triggered by prototypicality of self in the case of non-visually cued groups under anonymity. In low salience conditions, visibility directly cued attraction independently from self-categorization, in line with relational attraction processes. Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Attraction and group cohesiveness are fundamental aspects of groups because they are key indicators of the sense in which the group and its members are valued and form a distinct and united entity. They can be used to predict many other group-based outcomes, such as social influence, conformity, group productivity, and performance (Forsyth, 1990; Hogg, 1993). Social identity theory differentiates group- based social attraction from personal attraction (Hogg & Hains, 1996; Hogg & Hardie, 1991, 1992; Hogg, Hardie, & Reynolds, 1995; Hogg & Turner, 1985; Turner, 1982). Whereas personal attraction is the product of specific bonds between people and is unaffected by group considerations in principle, group-based social attraction arises from categorization of self and others in terms of the group. In this paper we examine how visibility and anonymity affect attraction and cohesiveness in different ‘kinds’ of group differently, through their impact on self-categorization processes. For certain groups that are European Journal of Social Psychology Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 37, 761–773 (2007) Published online 30 October 2006 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.398 *Correspondence to: Dr Martin Lea, School of Psychological Sciences, Coupland 1 Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road Manchester M13 9PL, UK. E-mail: martin.lea@man.ac.uk Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received 26 June 2005 Accepted 17 August 2006