Aggression- Deindividuation theory

Question 1

Who suggested the deindividuation theory?

Answer 1

Le Bon

Question 2

Define individuation

Answer 2

refers to the tendency for people to lose their inhibitions and their sense of personal identity when they are part of a crowd

Question 3

Define anonymity

Answer 3

Lacking individuality, distinction or recognisability or a situation in which the person is not known by or spoken by name

Question 4

What are some factors that contribute to deindividuation

Answer 4

-Anonymity
-Uniform
-Drugs/alcohol

Question 5

Why does deindividuation make us more aggressive?

Answer 5

-People feel less constrained by social norms (most forms of aggressive behaviour are discouraged)

Question 6

Define private self-awareness

Answer 6

individuals generally exercise this type of self-awareness as it involves constant self-monitoring i.e. acting according to social/personal/cultural moral codes or norms

Question 7

Define public self-awareness

Answer 7

once an individual is part of a crowd their private self-awareness is reduced: they are less likely to be noticed (and thus judged) by others; they can break societal or cultural rules; they stop caring about how their behaviour would be perceived by others (as, presumably, everyone else is behaving badly too)

Question 8

What do Prentice-Dunn and Rodgers (1982) argue

Answer 8

-Not anonymity which directly which leads to aggression but the consequences of anonymity
-Make the distinction between two types of self-awareness

Question 9

Why does anonymity impact aggression?

Answer 9

-Less fear of retribution because we are small and unidentifiable part of a faceless crowd (the bigger the crowd, the more anonymous we are)

Question 10

Give an evaluation point (Anonymity rather than deindividuation)

Answer 10

-Aggression comes from anonymity rather than deindividuation
-Zimbardo Asked female students to shock a confederate half were deindividuated, other half were easily identifiable
-The deindivated group were more aggressive, shows deindividuation does impact aggresssion
-However the group that were in the deindividuated condition were wearing clothes that disguised them, had no name tage and were not clearly cisible as they were in a dimly lit room
-Anonymity is described as lacking recognisibiltyb
-Lacks population vvaldity- all female sample, cant generealise findings to males