Relationship-bound roles and role-filler independence in social cognition.

Abstract

The target article proposes an evolutionarily old "institutional stance," where people make sense of others' behavior through roles independent of individuals. We argue that representations of such role-filler-independent roles are likely not primitives. We offer an alternative: relationship-bound role representations that encode particular individuals. Role-filler independence may instead be a cultural tool that addresses coordination challenges in large-scale groups.