Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Outline and evaluate one
social psychological
theory of aggression
(Deindividuation)
- AO2
- Mullen (1986)
- Analysed 60 reports of
lynching’s in the USA, it was
found that the larger the
mob was, the more
barbaric the acts of
violence were towards the
victim
- Mann
- Studied 21 media reports of suicide
jumps, it was found that in 10 of
these reports, a ‘baiting crowd’
gathered in which members of the
public encouraged the victim to
jump. It was found that in the
majority of these cases, it was dark
outside and the crowd was far away
from the victim, meaning anonymity
was greater
- ALTERNATIVE THEORY
Local group norms.
Johnson & Downing (1979)
- Repeated Zimbardo’s 1969 study, however dressed
half the ppts as nurses and half as KKK members. Those dressed as KKK shocked more, as they
may’ve felt that they had ‘an aggressive reputation’ to uphold, whilst nurses are seen as caring.
(Similar principles can be placed onto Rehm’s study, using the social identity theory)
- Postmes & Spears (1971)
- Conducted a meta-analysis of 60 deindividuation
studies, and found that disinhibition and anti-social
behaviour weren’t more common in large groups
- AO1
- LeBon (1895)
- Suggested that individuals are
‘transformed’ when part of a
crowd. This is due to a variety of
reasons, including anonymity,
suggestibility and the sense of a
‘collective mind’
- Zimbardo et al. (1969)
- Placed ppts into groups of 4; half wore bulky
coats so retained anonymity, whilst half wore
normal clothes and were constantly referred to
by name. Ppts with anonymity shocked other
ppts for twice as long, supporting claims that
anonymity increases deindividuation
- Deindividuation causes a lack of
self-evaluation and gives a sense of
disinhibition from what one would
normally consider socially and
morally acceptable behaviour
- It was also found that
as the size of the
group increases, so
does anonymity
- Rehm (1987)
- Used 2
groups of
school
children to
demonstrate
how wearing
certain
clothes
increases
anonymity
and thus
violence. The
ppts with
sports kits
on played far
more
aggressively
than their
peers
- IDA
- Real life application
- Francis (2005)
- Found
teens are
more likely
to seek
mental
health
advice
online
than at a
GP due to
increased
anonymity
- Cultural bias
- Watson
- Found that tribesmen that
drastically changed their
faces before going to war
were far more likely to be
savage and killed more
people during battle
- Reductionist
- Ignores other factors such as
gender, individual
differences and genetic
factors resulting in a greater
disposition for aggression