Psychological Explanations: De-individuation Flashcards
1
Q
Psychological Explanations: De-individuation
Crowd Behaviour
A
- We are identified by others and so our behaviour is constrained by social norms, most forms of aggression are discouraged in our society.
- But as part of a crowd we lose restraint and have freedom to behave different to normal.
- We lose our individual self-identity, disregard social norms and even laws as we experience less responsibility and guilt.
2
Q
Psychological Explanations: De-individuation
Anonymity
A
- Distinguished between individuated and de-individuated behaviour.
- De-individuated behaviours are impulsive, irrational, disinhibited and anti-normative.
- We lose self-awareness and stop regulating our behaviour.
- A major factor of this is anonymity as we have less fear of retribution as part of a crowd - less opportunity for others to judge us negatively.
3
Q
Psychological Explanations: De-individuation
Reduced Self-awareness
A
- Prentice-Dunn and Rogers (1982) explained aggression as a consequence of anonymity.
- Private self-awareness: how we pay attention to our own feelings and behaviour - it is reduced when part of a crowd as attention is focused outwardly.
- Public self-awareness: how others think of our behaviour but we have anonymity in crowds.
4
Q
Psychological Explanations: De-individuation
Dodd (1985)
A
- Dodd asked 229 students: “if you could do anything humanly possible with complete assurance you will not be held accountable, what would you do?”
- They were assured responses were anonymous.
- Independent raters decided categories without knowing the hypothesis.
- 36% of responses were antisocial acts, 26% were criminal acts.
- Only 9% of responses were prosocial behaviours.
- In terms of how they imagined they’d behave the study demonstrates the link between anonymity and aggressive behaviour.
5
Q
De-individuation: Evaluation
Online Anonymity
Strength
A
- A study looked at aggressive behaviour online.
- They found a strong correlation between anonymity and ‘flaming’.
- The most aggressive messages were sent by those who chose to hide their identities, this has implicated high-profile cases of self-harm and suicide.
- This supports a link between aggressive behaviour and anonymity.
6
Q
De-individuation: Evaluation
Counterpoint
A
- Anonymity doesn’t always lead to aggression.
- A study placed groups of strangers in a completely dark room.
- They were told to do whatever and could not identify each other.
- Participants quickly stopped talking and started touching and kissing each other.
- In a second study new participants were told they’d come face-to-face afterwards: kissing was much lower.
This means de-individuation may not always lead to aggression.
7
Q
De-individuation: Evaluation
Real World De-individuation
A
- A researcher investigated instances of suicidal jumpers.
- He identified 21 cases in newspapers where the crowd baited the person to jump, and this typically occured in the dark where crowds were larger and they were further.
- These conditions lead to a state of de-individuation.
This means there is validity to the idea a large group can become aggressively
8
Q
De-individuation: Evaluation
Roles of Norms
Limitation
A
- De-individuation theory suggests we behave in ways contrary to social norms.
- However, Social Identity (SIDE) model argues de-individuation actually leads to behaviour that conforms to social group norms, regardless of if its anti- or pro-social.
- Anonymity shifts from private identity to their social identity in a group.
This suggests people in a de-individuated state remain sensitive to norms rather than ignoring them.
