DEINDIVIDUATION
Definition: The loss of individuality and personal responsibility when we are part of a crowd. This can be seen as a reason for aggressive behaviour.
Zimbardo’s study:
Method: Groups of 4 female participants were asked to give electric shocks to confederates either when in identical coats and hoods or when in own clothes with name tags.
Results: The anonymous gave twice as many shocks as the individual group.
Criticisms:
There may have been demand characteristics involved. In a further experiment participants in nurses uniforms gave fewer shocks.
Factors affecting deindividuation:
1. Level of anonymity: people are more anonymous in large crowds and in the dark, for example.
2. External cues e.g. uniform (see above)
3. The mood of the crowd : the mood of a crowd seems to spread e.g. happy/aggressive crowds
Problems with the research:
How easy is it to replicate this behaviour in a laboratory? The laboratory experiments above are possibly unrealistic.