Deindividuation Flashcards
(41 cards)
What are the 4 AO1 points for DEINDIVIDUATION?
1) What is deindividuation
2) Zimbardo
3) Anonymity
4) Prentice-Dunn, Reduced Self Awareness
What is deindividuation?
A social psychological concept based largely on Gustav Le Bons crowd theory
What is Gustav Le Bon’s crowd theory?
An individual is transformed when part of a crowd
Deindividuation is a psychological state…
- Lower self evaluation
- Decreased concerns about evaluation from others
Why might a person follow group norms rather than social norms without question?
Combination of anonymity, suggestibility and contagion means a person can lose all self control
Zimbardo states that a consequence of being within a crowd is diminished awareness of a persons own individuality…
- Normally social norms discourage antisocial behaviour
- Each person is faceless and anonymous, weakening the metaphorical barrier to antisocial behaviour based on guilt and shame
Who was involved in Zimbardo’s study and what were they wearing?
- 4 female undergraduates, half of which were dressed anonymously with loose lab coats, hoods etc, half of which were identifiable with normal clothes and name tags
In Zimbardo’s study, what were the female participants required to do?
- Required to deliver electric shocks to aid learning
- Both conditions were able to see the person being shocked
What were the findings of Zimbardo’s study?
Those in the deindividuated condition shocked leaners for twice as long
What does Zimbardo’s study show? (Proper AO2 point)
-Therefore demonstrates role of deindividuation as participants felt their costumes allowed them to act in a socially-unacceptable manner, thus supporting deindividuation as a socio-psychological explanation of aggression
However, it is important to note that Zimbardos study is open to gender bias…
- Participants were female
- Cannot generalise results, limiting such research into deindividuation
Anonymity is thought to play a…
significant role in deindividuation and thus an increase in aggression
What was Rehm’s hypothesis in relation to anonymity?
- He explored the hypothesis that wearing a uniform as a sports team could increase aggressive acts
What was Rehm’s study into anonymity?
- German school children randomly assigned to handball teams of 5, half wearing same orange shirt, half wearing their normal street clothes
Why did half wear orange uniforms?
More difficult to distinguish from one another
What were the findings of Rehm’s study?
- Orange shirts played handball in a consistently more aggressive manner
This provides more evidence supporting the notion of anonymity - leading from deindividuation - does indeed increase aggressive behaviour,
consequently lending support to deindividuation as an explanation of aggressive behaviour
Mullen and Mann also found evidence of deindividuated individuals behaving more aggressively..
Mullen - newspaper cuttings of 60 US lynchings finding the more people in the mob, the greater savagery
Mann - used deindividuation concept to explain the baiting crowd, 10 out of 21 suicides involved the presence of a baiting crowd
What is a baiting crowd?
A collective behaviour, may be large, some distance away and at night which call out malicious words of encouragement
Cross cultural evidence?
Additionally validates the deindividuation theory…
Where does some cross cultural evidence come from?
Warriors in 23 societies who changed their appearance prior to war were more destructive
What is the proper AO2 for cross cultural evidence?
It would appear, therefore, that the theory of deindividuation as an explanation of aggression can be applied to other, even contrasting cultures, giving credit to the explanation
Who gave an alternative perspective to anonymity being a determinant of deindividuation
Prentice-Dunn
What does Prentice-Dunn believe?
reduced self awareness that leads to deindividuation rather than anonymity - individual becomes less focused and less self aware
