Deindividuation & research to support/oppose theories

1. DEINDIVIDUATION
Le Bon 1896
When part of a large anonymous group,
individuals are more likely to behave in an anti-
social and aggressive manner- ‘collective
mindset’ or ‘mob’
Uniforms reduce personal identity, creating
anonymity and contributing to aggressive
behaviour as the individual identifies with the role
created by the uniform and loses their sense of
individuality- agentic shift
Self-awareness
Diener 1980
Deindividuation occurs when self-awareness is
blocked by environmental events; because they
are focusing on external events rather than their
own feelings, there is a greater risk of aggression
RESEARCH
Zimbardo 1973
Uses deindividuation to explain the rapid degeneration
of behaviour in his Stanford Prison Experiment
Students were recruited to play the role of prisoner or
guard; prisoners given numbers instead of names and
prison uniforms; guards were given reflective
sunglasses to avoid eye contact with prisoners
Deindividuation = increased aggression; the experiment
was supposed to last two weeks, but was stopped after
6 days due to the level of aggression shown by the
guards and the inhumane treatment of the prisoners
However, demand characteristics
Dodd 1985
“If you could be totally invisible for 24 hours and were
completely assured you wouldn’t be caught, what would
you do?”
36% of 229 participants described anti-social acts
Given the chance to be anonymous, even ‘normal’
college students could be capable of extreme anti-social
behaviour
However, lacks ecological validity; perception/reality
Ellison et al. 1995
Driving simulation experiment- Told to imagine they
were either non-identifiable (top up) or identifiable (top
down)
Aggression increased in anonymous condition
However, demand characteristics
Postmes and Spears 1998
Meta-analysis- anonymity = aggression
Loss of identity to people outside of a group was
consistent with the risk of aggressive behaviour
However, people can gather in large groups without
becoming aggressive, e.g. festivals or religious
gatherings
RESEARCH
Rehm et al. 1987
Real life research on aggression in sport using
11 year olds
Deindividuation- one team in bright orange shirts
and other team in own clothes
Boys’ team- orange team showed more
aggression; but the girls’ team showed no
difference in levels of aggression between teams
However, could be due to social identity theory;
want group to perform well and fulfil groups’ aim-
competitive aggression
Watson 1973
Cross-cultural study- 24 cultures
In conflict situations, warriors who concealed
their identity by wearing face and body paint
were more brutal and aggressive than those who
were identifiable
Silke 2003
Relationship between anonymity and aggression
in violent assaults in Northern Ireland; of the 500
assaults studied, 206 were carried out by
offender wearing a mask or disguise
However, cross-cultural bias, due to the cultural
time of turmoil in Northern Ireland