deindividuation

Question 1

what is deindividuation?

Answer 1

• when in a group there is a reduction of inner restraints of self-awareness

Question 2

how can deindividuation be used to explain aggression?

Answer 2

• an understanding of social norms usually prevents aggressive and deviant behaviour
• in public, we carry out self-assessment to ensure we comply with these norms
• however, when in a crowd, you become anonymous and lose your sense of identity, people don’t see the consequences of aggression and social norms are forgotten
• therefore aggression is more likely when people are in a crowd

Question 3

give a strength of deindividuation

Answer 3

dodd (1985) asked 229 undergrad psych students “if you could do anything humanly possible with complete assurance that you would not be detected or held responsible, what would you do?”. 36% of responses were antisocial and 26% were criminal. demonstrates the link between deindividuation due to anonymity and aggression

Question 4

give a strength of deindividuation

Answer 4

diener (1976) studied deindividuation, in which on halloween concealed raters observed 1300 children under different conditions: anonymity, non-anonymity, and being alone or in a group. the children were given the chance to steal sweets and money. those in a group or anonymous stole the most (57%) compared to those who were identifiable (21%). supports the idea that anonymity and being in a group increases the chance of behaving in an aggressive or deviant way

Question 5

give a strength of deindividuation

Answer 5

malmouth and check (1981) asked university students in america “would you rape if you could not be caught?” 35% said yes, supporting the claim that deindividuation can increase the chance of aggression

Question 6

give a strength of deindividuation

Answer 6

johnson and downing (1979) did an experiment with 3 conditions: women dressed in a kkk outfit which hid their full face, women dressed as nurses, and women wore their own clothes. they had to give (fake) electric shocks to a confederate. those in the kkk outfits gave much higher level shocks, supporting the idea that when peoples identity is hidden, they are more likely to carry out aggressive acts

Question 7

give a limitation of deindividuation

Answer 7

it is hard to separate deindividuation from other explanations of aggression such as social learning. sports like football have large crowds and experience high levels of violence, however, sports like rugby and cricket also have large crowds but don’t experience issues with violence etc. this suggests that rather than deindividuation being responsible for aggression, it may instead be the result of social learning