De-individualisation Flashcards
(17 cards)
What is de-individuation?
Psychological state in which an individual loses their personal identity and takes in the identity of a social group
The result may be decreased concern about the evaluation of others
Who spoke about de-individualisation?
Le Bon
What is the explanation of crowd behaviour?
We are easily identified by others, our behaviour is constrained by social norms
Live in a society where most forms of aggression are discouraged
When we become part of a crowd, we loose restraint and have freedom to behave in ways we wouldn’t otherwise
We lose our senses of individual self identity and responsibility for our behaviour
Disregard noms and laws
Responsibility becomes shared throughout the crowd - we experience less personal guilt about directing harmful aggression at others
What did Zimbardo do?
Distinguished between individuated and de-individuated behaviour
What is an individuated state?
Behaviours are rational and normative
What is a de-individuated state?
Behaviours are emotional, impulsive, irrational, disinhibited ad anti-normative
When we are in de-individuated state - we loose self awareness, stop monitoring and regulating own behaviour, ignore social norms and live for the moment
What promotes de-individuation?
Promote aggressive behaviour include darkness, drugs, alcohol, uniforms, masks and disguises
Anonymity
What does Dizon et al argue about crowd behaviour?
Anonymity shapes crowd behaviour
We have less fear of retribution because we are a small unidentifiable part of a faceless crowd
Bigger the crowd the more anonymous we are
Anonymity provided fewer opportunities for others to judge us negatively
What did Dunn and Rogers argue?
De-individuation as part of a faceless crowd creates a greater likelihood of aggression - not due to anonymity directly but consequences of anonymity
What is private self awareness?
Concerns how we pay attention to our own feelings and behaviours
Reduced when we are part of a crowd
Attention becomes focused outwardly to events around us
We pay less attention to our own beliefs and feelings
Less self critical and less thoughtful which promotes a de-individuated state
What is public self awareness?
Refers to how much we care about what other people think of our behaviour
Reduced in crowds
Realise we are just one individual amongst many - anonymous and our own behaviour is less likely to be judged by others
No longer care how others see us - become less accountable for our aggressive actions
What was Dodds procedure?
Asked 229 undergraduate psychology students
13 classes
‘If you could do anything humanly possible with complete assurance that you would not be detected or held responsible, what would you do?’
Students knew their responses were completely anonymous
3 independent raters who did not know the hypothesis decided which categories of antisocial behaviour the responses belonged to
What did Dodd find?
36% of the responses involved some form of antisocial behaviour
26% actual criminal acts - most common of which was rob a bank
Few students opted for murder, rape and assassination of political figure
9% of responses were prosocial behaviours
How people imagines they would behave - demonstrating a link between anonymity, de-individuation and aggressive behaviour
What is a strength of de-individuation?
Research support
Douglas and McGarty
Aggressive online behaviour in chatrooms and uses of instant messaging
Found strong correlation between anonymity and ‘flaming’ (posting hostile messages)
Found most aggressive messages were sent by those who chose to hide real identities
Common behaviour of online trolls
Been implicated in high profile cases of self harm and even suicide
Supporting link between aggressive behaviour and anonymity, a key element of de-individuation
What is a counterpoint of research support?
Evidence it does not always lead to aggression
Gergen et al
Deviance in the dark
Groups of eight strangers
Placed in a completely darkened room for one hour
Told to do just whatever they wanted to - could not identify each other and would never meet again
Very quickly stopped talking - started kissing, touching each other immediately
Second study
New participants would come face to face afterwards
Amount of touching and kissing was much lower
Therefore de individuation may not always lead to aggression
What is a strength of de-individuation?
Real world
Mann
Investigated instances of suicidal jumpers
Identified 21 cases reported in US newspapers of a crowd gathering to bait a jumper
Eg. encourage him or her to jump
Incidents tended to occur in darkness
Crowds were large and the jumpers were relatively distant from the crowd
Conditions predicted by de individuation theory to lead to a state of deinidivudation in crowds - led to aggressive baiting
Some validity to idea that a large group can become aggressive in a de-individuated faceless crowd
What is a limitation of de-individualisation?
Normative rather than anti normative
Argues we behave in ways that are contrary to social norms when we are less aware of our private identity
SIDE model
Spears and Lea
Deindividuation actually leads to behaviour that confroms to group norms
May be antisocial norms but could equally be prosocial norms
Happens because anonymity shifts an individuals attention from his or her private identitiy to their social identity as a group member
Suggesting people in a de indiviuated state remain sensitive to norms rather than ignoring them
