de-individuation

• define de-individuation?

  • process whereby people lose their sense of individuality & identity & engage in socialised aggressive behaviour
• when does de-individuation occur?

  • when individual feels less identifiable
  • hidden by uniform/large group
  • behaviour is less inhibited - more likely to be aggressive
• le bon 1895?

  • highlighted that when part of large anonymous crowd individuals more likely to behave in antisocial & aggressive manner
• anonymity?

  • more anonymous crowd is the greater threat of extreme action - collective mindset takes over
  • crowd acts as one - person becomes submerged into crowd & loses self control
  • fail to see consequences of their actions & social norms they would usually follow are forgotten
• prentice dunn 1982?

  • distinguished between 2 types of self awareness
  • de-individuation leads to change in these types of self awareness which he believes can then lead to aggressive behaviour
• 2 types of self awareness?

  1. public self awareness
  2. private self awareness
• public self awareness?

  • in normal circumstances people are concerned about impression they will create in others
• private self awareness?

  • relates to individuals own thoughts,feelings,values & morals
  • your own internal standards make you who you are
• 3 * of de-individuation?

  1. evidence from zimbardo - stanford prison
  2. evidence from zimbardo - milgram variation
  3. practical application
• X evidence to contradict from gergen 1973?

  • group of 8 p who were complete strangers
  • placed in room with each other for 1 hour & told to do whatever they liked with no rules & no one will stop them
  • no way to be identified & assured they would never encounter each other again
  • found they were not aggressive
  • instead started to touch & kiss each other
  • may lead to sexual behaviour rather than aggressive
  • if explanation was accurate they would have displayed aggressive rather than affectionate behaviour towards each other
• * evidence from zimbardo - prison?

  • guards lost sense of public self awareness - hidden behind aviators & uniform - became deindividuated & free from consequences
  • prisoners lost sense of private self awareness - referred to as numbers only - more likely to behave as prisoners than their selves hence becoming aggressive
  • shows that anonymity causes group to become more aggressive than they would have been individually due to loss of public & private self awareness
• * evidence from zimbardo - milgrams?

  • replicated milgrams electric shock study
  • G1 - not deindividuated - introduced to learner,wore own clothes,wore name badges,completed test in close proximity to learner
  • G2 - deindividuated - not introducted,wore long cloaks & hoods,no name badges,completed test away from learner
  • deindividuated group shocked learner for twice as long as did identifiable group
  • shows when p are anonymous they are more likely to display aggressive behaviour
• * practical application?

  • if we know that loss of public self awareness leads to increase in aggressive behaviour then steps can be taken to reduce feeling of anonymity & so reduce aggression
  • eg police use this by mounting CCTV cameras in areas where aggression occurs - football hooliganism
  • often accompanied by signs alerting people to fact that theyre being filmed to try & reduce aggression before it starts
  • means that we can reduce aggression in society
  • so less strain on criminal justice system to spend money on this & can be put back into other areas of economy