deindividuation

• What is deindividuation?

  Deindividuation is a process whereby people lose their sense of socialised individual identity and engage in unsocialised, often antisocial behaviour.

  Being part of a crowd can diminish awareness of individuality. This is because in a large crowd the individual feels anonymous and does not therefore feel a sense of responsibility. Responsibility is shared by the group, and therefore we experience less personal guilt at harmful aggression directed at others.
• What are some conditions that promote deindividuation?

  Darkness, drugs, alcohol, uniforms, masks, disguises. Anonymity provides fewer opportunities for others to judge.
• Role of self-awareness

  Dunn and Rogers claim that it is not just anonymity that causes deindividuation but the consequences of anonymity. This can be explained by two different types of self-awareness:

  Private Self-awareness - attention to own feelings and behaviour, reduced in crowds

  Public self-awareness - care about what others think, reduced in crowds.
• Dodd (1985) - AO3 support


  Conducted research into deindividuation.

  229 undergraduate psychology students were asked 'if you could do anything, no repercussions, what would you do?' responses were anonymous. 36% said some form of antisocial behaviour, 26% said they'd commit a crime. Only 9% were prosocial responses

  However, study lacks mundane realism, not psychologically naive etc
• Douglas and McGarty (2001) - AO3 support

  Looked at levels of aggression in online chatrooms. They found a strong correlation between making threatening comments whilst remaining anonymous. The most aggressive comments were sent by those who did not reveal their identity
• Gergen et al. (1973) - AO3 limitation


  Demonstrated that not all deindividuation leads to aggression. Their 'deviance in the dark' study showed that strangers who were in the dark with no rules (deindividuated) did not act aggressively towards one another. Instead they behaved more intimately (touching and kissing each other)