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 largeanonymouscrowd 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?
public self awareness
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 internalstandards make you who you are
3 * of de-individuation?
evidence from zimbardo - stanford prison
evidence from zimbardo - milgram variation
practical application
X evidence to contradict from gergen 1973?
group of 8 p who were complete strangers
placed in room with each other for 1hour & told to do whatever they liked with norules & no one will stop them
no way to be identified & assured they would neverencounter each other again
found they were notaggressive
instead started to touch & kiss each other
may lead to sexualbehaviour 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 ownclothes,wore namebadges,completed test in close proximity to learner
G2 - deindividuated - not introducted,wore longcloaks & 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 morelikely 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 CCTVcameras in areas where aggression occurs - footballhooliganism
often accompanied by signsalerting people to fact that theyre being filmed to try & reduceaggression before it starts
means that we can reduceaggression in society
so lessstrain on criminal justice system to spend money on this & can be put back into other areas of economy