Social Psychological Explanations of Aggression: De-individuation Flashcards
1
Q
who originally used the concept de-individuation?
A
Le Bon
2
Q
how does Le Bon explain ?
A
- normally we are easily identified by other, our behaviour is constrained by social norms = we live in a society where aggression is discouraged
3
Q
what happens when we become a part of a crowd?
A
- we lose restraint and have freedom to behave in ways we wouldn’t otherwise
- we lose our senses of individual self-identity and responsibility for our behaviour
- we disregard norms and laws
- responsibility becomes shared to the crowd, so we experience less personal guilt
4
Q
what did Zimbardo do?
A
distinguished between individuated state and de-individuated state
5
Q
according to Zimbardo, what is the individuated state?
A
- our behaviour is rational and normative
6
Q
according to Zimbardo, what is the de-individuated state?
A
- behaviour is emotional, impulsive, irrational, disinhibited and anti-normative
- lose self-awareness, stop monitoring and regulate our own behaviour
- ignore social norms
7
Q
what are the conditions for de-individuation that promote aggressive behaviour?
A
- darkness
- drugs
- alcohol
- uniform
- disguises
- masks
- anonimity
8
Q
what do Dixon and Mahendran say?
A
- we have less fear of retribution as we are a small part of a large faceless crowd
- bigger the crowd = more anonymous we are
9
Q
what do Prentice-Dunn and Rogers say?
A
- there is a greater likelihood of aggression not only because of anonymity but also the consequences of anonymity
10
Q
what are the two types of self awareness?
A
- private self-awareness
- public self-awareness
11
Q
what is private self awareness?
A
- how we pay attention to our own feelings and behaviour
- reduced when in a crowd, our attention becomes focused outwardly to the events around us = pay less attention to our own belief and feelings
- we are less critical and less thoughtful, promoting de-individuated state
12
Q
what is public self awareness?
A
- how much we care about what other people think out our behaviour
- reduced in crowds
- we realism we are one individual amongst many, we are anonymous and our behaviour is less likely to be judged by others
- we no longer care about how others see us, so we become less accountable for our aggressive actions
13
Q
who is the researcher involved in research into de-individuation?
A
Dodd
14
Q
what did Dodd do?
A
- asked 229 undergraduate psychology students in 13 classes - if you could do anything humanely possible with complete assurance that you wouldn’t be detected or help responsible what would you do
- the students responses were completely anonymous
- 3 independent raters who didn’t know the hypothesis decided which categories of antisocial behaviour the response belonged to
15
Q
what were Dodd’s findings?
A
- 36% of responses involved some form of anti
social behaviour - 26% were actual criminal acts, most common being robbing a bank, few opted for murder, rape and assassination of political figures
- 9% were prosocial behaviours, such as helping people
= there is a link between anonymity, de-individuation and aggressive behaviour
