deindividuation AO1

• Deindividuation is a psychological state whereby an individual loses their personal identity and takes on the identity of the group, for example when wearing a uniform or in a crowd.
• Crowd behaviour

  Le Bon 1895 came up with the explanation of deindividuation to explain the behaviour of individuals in crowds. By ourselves, our behaviour is constrained by social norms and aggression is discouraged. In a group, we lose restraint and we behave how we want. We lose the sense of individual self-identity and responsibility, and the responsibility becomes shared through the crowd.
• Experiences of deindividuation in crowds create greater likelihood of aggression. Dunn and Rogers suggested this is not due to anonymity directly, but to the consequences of anonymity. There are two types of self-awareness: private self-awareness and public self-awareness.
• Public - How much we care about what others think of us. In a crowd, this awareness decreases because we feel anonymous and less likely to be judged.
• Private - Aware of your own thoughts, feelings and actions. When in a crowd, this reduces because focus is on events around you. You think less about your own values and feelings and become self-critical and act in a way that's less individual.
• Research into deindividuation: Dodd

  Dodd asked 229 psychology students ‘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 answers were going to be anonymous. Three independent raters decided which categories pro-social or anti-social behaviour responses belonged to.
• Dodd: findings

  36% of responses involved a form of anti-social behaviour and 26% were actual criminal acts. Only 9% were pro-social behaviours like helping people. In terms of how people imagined they would behave, there is a link between anonymity, de-individuation and aggressive behaviour.