The Deindividuation perspective Free Essay Example

Introduction

Also Premenstrual syndrome has been cited in criminal trials as a reason for aggressive behaviour. These together with other biological explanations cast doubt on aggression being purely a learned behaviour. The social learning theory itself relies heavily on experimental evidence and field studies in which there are some mythological flaws. For example low ecological validity, after all the Bobo doll was not a living person. Johnson et al found in a similar study that the children who acted more aggressively towards the doll were rated as their teachers and peers as being more violent in general.

The Deindividuation Theory

This would cast doubt on whether the children learned the behaviour from watching an aggressive model or whether their behaviour was due to individual differences a predisposition for violent acts. The Deindividuation Theory is defined by Hogg and Vaughan as ‘a process whereby people loose their sense of socialised individual identity and engage in unsocialised, often antisocial behaviours’. People normally refrain from acting in an aggressive and selfish manner in part because in society we have strong norms against such uncivilised behaviour.

In certain situations such as in crowds, these restraints may become more relaxed because moral responsibility has been shifted to the group, it is then likely that we will engage in aggressive, selfish and antisocial behaviour. La Bonne believed that the more anonymous the crowd the greater was its potential for extreme action. According to Zimbardo, being part of a crowd can diminish awareness of individuality. In a large crowd, each person is faceless and anonymous.

There is diminished fear of retribution and a diluted sense of guilt.

The concept of Deindividuation

Conditions that increase anonymity serve to minimise concerns about evaluation by others and thus weaken the controls based on guilt, shame or fear. The concept of Deindividuation can be applied to the victim of aggression. Milgram (1965) found that participants were more likely to give higher levels of shocks when they could not see their victim. When the victim was in the same room, the participants were less likely to give high levels of shock to someone they could see and that could see them.

This study was supported by a similar study by Zimbardo. He found that hidden by lab coats and hoods half the group gave double the shocks given by participants dressed in normal clothes. More recent developments of the concept of Deindividuation have distinguished between the effects of reduced public self-awareness (being anonymous to others) and reduced private self-awareness. A person who is self focused tends to ct according to internalised attitudes and moral standards.

The reduction in private self -awareness

If the person submerges themselves within a group, they may loose this focus and become less privately self-aware. This reduction in private self -awareness is associated with increased antisocial behaviour (Prentice, Dunn & Rogers, 1989) Although much of the early evidence for Deindividuation was supportive, the concept is not without its problems, not least, of which is the findings in some studies that Deindividuation may produce increases in pro-social behaviour, for example expressions of collective god will at religious rallies.

Conclusion

The Deindividuation perspective argues that our submergence in a group indeterminism the influence of social norms. This is a sharp contrast to social psychological research, which has demonstrated the strong normative hold that groups have on individual members. Rather than individuals pursuing behaviour based on primitive urges and not conforming to societies norms, they might be seen as conforming to a ‘local’ group norm (Manstead et al. 1995). This norm need not necessarily be antisocial, and could thus account four some contradictory findings.

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