In some countries, deindividuation has even been accepted as grounds for extenuating circumstances in murder trials.
_____________________________
Hogg and Vaughn define deindividuation as: 'a process whereby people lose their sense of socialised individual identity and engage in unsocialised, often anti-social behaviours'.
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Zimbardo (1969)
Procedure
- Groups of 4 female undergraduates.
- Delivered shocks to other student.
- Half in bulky lab coats and hoods in separate cubicles, never referred to by name; half in normal clothes with large name tags and introduced to each other by name.
- Both sets told they could see the person being shocked.
Findings
- Hooded - deindividuated - shocked participant for twice as long as identifiable participants.
_____________________________
Rehm et al (1987)
Procedure
- Randomly assigned German schoolchildren to handball teams of 5.
- Half wore orange shirts; half wore street clothes.
Findings
- Children wearing orange played more aggressively.
_____________________________
Mullen (1986) - The Faceless Crowd
Mullen analysed newspaper cuttings of 60 lynchings in US between 1899 and 1946 and found more people = more savagery.
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Milgram (1965)
Found that participants were more likely to give higher levels of shock when they could not see their victim. When the victim was in the same room, participants were more reluctant to deliver high level shocks.
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Mann (1981) - The Baiting Crowd
- Analysed 21 suicide leaps from US newspapers in 1960s and 70s.
- 10 out of 21 cases had a large crowds gathered, baiting the jumper.
- Occurred at night when crowd was large and some distance from the person jumping.
- This caused anonymity and deindividualisation.
_____________________________
Malamuth (1981)
Almost 1/3 of male students questioned at an American university admitted there was a likelihood that they would rape if they were certain they would not get caught.
_____________________________
Diener et al (1976)
Procedures
- Observed behaviour of 1,352 children on Halloween trick-or-treating.
- Approached 27 focal homes in Seattle where they were invited to take one candy.
- Half children were asked their names and addresses beforehand - reduced deindividuation.
Findings
- Groups and deindividuated children were more than twice as likely to take extra candy.
- Transgression rate varied from 8% of individuated individuals to 80% of deindividuated groups.
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Prentice-Dunn et al (1982)
It is reduced self-awareness, rather than simply anonymity, that leads to deindividuation. If an individual is self-focused, they tend to focus on, and act according to their internalised attitudes and moral standards, thus reducing the likelihood of antisocial behaviour. If an individual submerges themselves in a group, they could lose their focus and less able to regulate their own behaviour.
Johnson and Downing (1979)
Procedure
- Female participants administer shocks to confederates in paired association task.
- Half women wore KKK robe; half in nurse's uniform. Experimenter commented on the explicit resemblance.
- Half wore a large name badge.
Findings
- Deindividuation failed to increase aggression.
- Nurses less aggressive.
- Individuated nurses least aggressive.
- Two important conclusions:
1. Aggression and antisocial behaviour are not automatic and inevitable consequences of anonymity.
2. Normative expectations surrounding situations of deindividuation may influence behaviour.
It is reduced self-awareness, rather than simply anonymity, that leads to deindividuation. If an individual is self-focused, they tend to focus on, and act according to their internalised attitudes and moral standards, thus reducing the likelihood of antisocial behaviour. If an individual submerges themselves in a group, they could lose their focus and less able to regulate their own behaviour.
_____________________________
Johnson and Downing (1979)
Procedure
- Female participants administer shocks to confederates in paired association task.
- Half women wore KKK robe; half in nurse's uniform. Experimenter commented on the explicit resemblance.
- Half wore a large name badge.
Findings
- Deindividuation failed to increase aggression.
- Nurses less aggressive.
- Individuated nurses least aggressive.
- Two important conclusions:
1. Aggression and antisocial behaviour are not automatic and inevitable consequences of anonymity.
2. Normative expectations surrounding situations of deindividuation may influence behaviour.
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