Deindividuation - the process of losing oneself in the mass, and thus forsaking one's own values and beliefs to pursue extreme behaviors, has played a definite role in history and how it has evolved. The examples throughout this blog (I hope) have partly proven this point.
There are many more instances that when analyzed will reveal the deindividuation effect, but I'll leave it to your discretion.
Because after all, history is awesome. And it always redirects itself.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
How the US Reacted
During the 1990s, terrorism had not been a focus of most Americans, let alone a concern to the political regime. Several bombings happened during the decade, but none resonated as an immediate threat that needed to be addressed. Even warnings of a possible attack in February 2001 and as late as August 6, 2001 were largely ignored.
Until September 9, 2001.
The event shook the world, and the inexplicable mental strength to fly commercial planes filled with civilians into buildings, killing thousands more altered completely the mindset of Americans. A war on terrorism was declared right away, and it led to the longest war in US history - the war in Afghanistan; it also indirectly led to the Iraq war.
The fear of terrorism triggered a burst of xenophobia among American citizens, and immigration procedure since then has seen changes, mostly to strengthen the security measures expected to reduce the chance of admitting a terrorist.
Terrorism is now a significant focus of the US government. Its fearful power can be attributed to the ability of terrorist groups to train surprisingly obedient extremists, which can be traced back to their ability to create and amplify the deindividuation effect.
Until September 9, 2001.
The event shook the world, and the inexplicable mental strength to fly commercial planes filled with civilians into buildings, killing thousands more altered completely the mindset of Americans. A war on terrorism was declared right away, and it led to the longest war in US history - the war in Afghanistan; it also indirectly led to the Iraq war.
The fear of terrorism triggered a burst of xenophobia among American citizens, and immigration procedure since then has seen changes, mostly to strengthen the security measures expected to reduce the chance of admitting a terrorist.
Terrorism is now a significant focus of the US government. Its fearful power can be attributed to the ability of terrorist groups to train surprisingly obedient extremists, which can be traced back to their ability to create and amplify the deindividuation effect.
Do You Think You Know Al-Qaeda?
Have you ever wondered how Al-Qaeda members are chosen?
Here's what an ACTUAL application to join Al-Qaeda looks like:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/11618950/Al-Qaeda-recruitment-form-Tell-us-your-hobbies-skills-and-thoughts-on-suicide-missions.html
A documentary on Al-Qaeda:
The first TV interview with Osama Bin Laden:
Terrorist Groups Aced the Deindividuation Test
Terrorism is broadly defined by the United States Department of Defense as "the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful
violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate
governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally
political, religious, or ideological.”
Terrorism in the US is a formidable threat, hovering real and large over the social security of the population and political order within the government. Groups such as Al-Qaeda have employed the tactic of utilizing the deindividuation effect to push their members past their self-imposed limits of behaviors.
Al-Qaeda is notorious for suicidal attacks on civilian and military targets, much often through bombing, to create completely pure Muslim countries, cut off from the rest of the world - who are considered impurity. Their most famous attack is on the World Trade Center in New York on September 9, 2001, otherwise known as the 9/11 event.
Al-Qaeda establish training camps in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq or Sudan, where they utilize the method of alienation. The trainees are forced in interact within an enclosed area and assume a group identity, whose supreme leader is always to be obeyed. The idea that the US was an enemy, and martyrdom was the most prestigious way to "carry out God's will" against America is spoon-fed to the members day after day, until they embrace that ideology as their own.
The training creates the foundation for the effect of deindividuation to take place, and thus explains the numerous suicidal bombings whose drive would normally exceed the understanding of a standard citizen.
Terrorism in the US is a formidable threat, hovering real and large over the social security of the population and political order within the government. Groups such as Al-Qaeda have employed the tactic of utilizing the deindividuation effect to push their members past their self-imposed limits of behaviors.
Al-Qaeda is notorious for suicidal attacks on civilian and military targets, much often through bombing, to create completely pure Muslim countries, cut off from the rest of the world - who are considered impurity. Their most famous attack is on the World Trade Center in New York on September 9, 2001, otherwise known as the 9/11 event.
Al-Qaeda establish training camps in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq or Sudan, where they utilize the method of alienation. The trainees are forced in interact within an enclosed area and assume a group identity, whose supreme leader is always to be obeyed. The idea that the US was an enemy, and martyrdom was the most prestigious way to "carry out God's will" against America is spoon-fed to the members day after day, until they embrace that ideology as their own.
The training creates the foundation for the effect of deindividuation to take place, and thus explains the numerous suicidal bombings whose drive would normally exceed the understanding of a standard citizen.
What the Nazis Meant to the US History
The rise to such immense power of the Nazis under the sole leadership of a supreme leader led to changes in the US policies and overall redirected the flow of history.
At the onset of war, with the Great Depression still looming behind their shoulders, US citizens felt an intensified sense of isolationism and xenophobia. The 1924 Immigration Law which obstructed immigrants from obtaining entry visas persisted strongly in spite of the growing number of killings in Europe.
In 1940, the US took an extra controversial step in its foreign policies by ordering US consuls to prolong visa processes, further restricting the flow of refugees fleeing from the Nazi party. This policy will continue to be a topic of much discussion, as it correlated directly with the fate of a human race. However, from 1933, when the Nazi party rose to power, to 1945, when WWII officially ended, around 200,000 Jews found refuge in the United States.
Among those refugees was Albert Einstein, whose enormous intellectuality has never failed to astonish the world. And it was because of this man that the Manhattan Project was started, eventually leading to the creation of the first atomic bombs in history. Their incredible destructive power, later on used by the US on Japan, helped bring an end to the deadliest and costliest war in human history.
Here's the source if you're not tired of reading yet!
At the onset of war, with the Great Depression still looming behind their shoulders, US citizens felt an intensified sense of isolationism and xenophobia. The 1924 Immigration Law which obstructed immigrants from obtaining entry visas persisted strongly in spite of the growing number of killings in Europe.
In 1940, the US took an extra controversial step in its foreign policies by ordering US consuls to prolong visa processes, further restricting the flow of refugees fleeing from the Nazi party. This policy will continue to be a topic of much discussion, as it correlated directly with the fate of a human race. However, from 1933, when the Nazi party rose to power, to 1945, when WWII officially ended, around 200,000 Jews found refuge in the United States.
Among those refugees was Albert Einstein, whose enormous intellectuality has never failed to astonish the world. And it was because of this man that the Manhattan Project was started, eventually leading to the creation of the first atomic bombs in history. Their incredible destructive power, later on used by the US on Japan, helped bring an end to the deadliest and costliest war in human history.
Here's the source if you're not tired of reading yet!
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Did you know this about the Nazis yet?
Women in Nazi Germany
Hitler's Speeches (with English subtitles)
Did the Nazi Party Pass the Deindividuation Test As Well?
We all know they did. And with flying colors too.
The Nazi Party, or the National Socialist German Workers' Party, is a political party established in 1919 on the foundation of National Socialism. The party amounted to unrivaled power fourteen years later under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. It promoted extreme nationalism, German pride and the calamitous ideology of antisemitism, which resulted in the death of approximately 6 million European Jews.
What stood out was that the tremendous figure of 6 million was not achieved through any weapon of mass destruction. It was simply people killing people in ways so horrific history would never again be the same. The SS, German government and military officials clearly played a significant role in the Holocaust, but "ordinary" people like civil servants, lawyers, doctors, judges and even railroad workers participated in the horrendous crime as well.
How did Hitler make them his killing machines?
The answer can be found looking through the lens of the deindividuation effect, with ample consideration to the fact that it was artificially created by only one man - the notorious Adolf Hitler.
Hitler utilized the persuasion method to produce the deindividuation effect. He brought the people together through action-motivating speeches that awoke the German pride inside each of them. He painted a hideous pictures of the "enemy" - the countries that signed the Treaty of Versailles and forced Germany to assume massive responsibility and reparations for WWI, whose action Hitler called unjustifiable maltreatment. He convinced the German population that as Germans, they were the mistreated underdogs whose power shall rise once again from the remnants. Using his superb oratorical skills, Hitler created a common enemy and provoked a group pride and identity, or to quote Hitler himself, "the great feeling of comradeship of being part of the group." His people now share his values, and injecting the idea of antisemitism now seemed too simple a task. His order of killing was further backed up by the effect of deindividuation:
Anonymity: As the Nazi party became the only political party in Germany, Germans all belonged to one large group, which provided a sense of security because they would not be found out. The effect was more pronounced among the SS: they shared the same uniforms, wore the same hair cut and operated under direct command from the same leader.
Diffused responsibility: This aspect derived from the anonymity created from being in a group. No specific individual was responsible for the killing, which made the job drastically easier.
Group size: All right, this one we get it. The whole nation was involved.
Source
Here's another source
The Nazi Party, or the National Socialist German Workers' Party, is a political party established in 1919 on the foundation of National Socialism. The party amounted to unrivaled power fourteen years later under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. It promoted extreme nationalism, German pride and the calamitous ideology of antisemitism, which resulted in the death of approximately 6 million European Jews.
What stood out was that the tremendous figure of 6 million was not achieved through any weapon of mass destruction. It was simply people killing people in ways so horrific history would never again be the same. The SS, German government and military officials clearly played a significant role in the Holocaust, but "ordinary" people like civil servants, lawyers, doctors, judges and even railroad workers participated in the horrendous crime as well.
How did Hitler make them his killing machines?
The answer can be found looking through the lens of the deindividuation effect, with ample consideration to the fact that it was artificially created by only one man - the notorious Adolf Hitler.
Hitler utilized the persuasion method to produce the deindividuation effect. He brought the people together through action-motivating speeches that awoke the German pride inside each of them. He painted a hideous pictures of the "enemy" - the countries that signed the Treaty of Versailles and forced Germany to assume massive responsibility and reparations for WWI, whose action Hitler called unjustifiable maltreatment. He convinced the German population that as Germans, they were the mistreated underdogs whose power shall rise once again from the remnants. Using his superb oratorical skills, Hitler created a common enemy and provoked a group pride and identity, or to quote Hitler himself, "the great feeling of comradeship of being part of the group." His people now share his values, and injecting the idea of antisemitism now seemed too simple a task. His order of killing was further backed up by the effect of deindividuation:
Anonymity: As the Nazi party became the only political party in Germany, Germans all belonged to one large group, which provided a sense of security because they would not be found out. The effect was more pronounced among the SS: they shared the same uniforms, wore the same hair cut and operated under direct command from the same leader.
Diffused responsibility: This aspect derived from the anonymity created from being in a group. No specific individual was responsible for the killing, which made the job drastically easier.
Group size: All right, this one we get it. The whole nation was involved.
Source
Here's another source
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
The Klan Diverted the Course of History
With the rate of black participation in Southern politics increasing rapidly, the Ku Klux Klan sought to retard that growth through violent practices. Douglas Parks, a minister of the NAACP who worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in one of his speeches sketched a broad picture of the extent to which the Klan was willing to go to: "They said there were billy clubs, but they didn't say those billy clubs were wrapped in barb wires too."
The action of the Klan lead to certain reactions from the US Government that produced a history-changing effect. Going into deeper analysis, the amplified violence of the KKK, as we have analyzed, can be largely attributed to the deindividuation effect. Thus we can reasonably assume there is a connection between the psychological phenomenon and how history has evolved.
The Justice of Department, under the pressure of social unrest partly caused by the Klan, was established in 1870. It reported on the threat of war brought about by the action of the KKK, and moved to permit the use of federal troops. However, it was not very effective.
The various lynchings taking place all over the South played a major role in suppressing the recognition of black social and political rights. The fear of being lynched hindered the much needed social revolution that would eventually lead to equal rights. The KKK together with the white "redeemers" prolonged the process of eliminating the white supremacy notion and obstructed the path to equality of all African Americans.
In the end, Reconstruction failed, with the horrific shadow of unquenchable violence brought about by the KKK playing a definite role.
The action of the Klan lead to certain reactions from the US Government that produced a history-changing effect. Going into deeper analysis, the amplified violence of the KKK, as we have analyzed, can be largely attributed to the deindividuation effect. Thus we can reasonably assume there is a connection between the psychological phenomenon and how history has evolved.
The Justice of Department, under the pressure of social unrest partly caused by the Klan, was established in 1870. It reported on the threat of war brought about by the action of the KKK, and moved to permit the use of federal troops. However, it was not very effective.
The various lynchings taking place all over the South played a major role in suppressing the recognition of black social and political rights. The fear of being lynched hindered the much needed social revolution that would eventually lead to equal rights. The KKK together with the white "redeemers" prolonged the process of eliminating the white supremacy notion and obstructed the path to equality of all African Americans.
In the end, Reconstruction failed, with the horrific shadow of unquenchable violence brought about by the KKK playing a definite role.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
The Ku Klux Klan Passed the Requirement Test
Finally I'm talking history.
The Ku Klux Klan is a classic example of how deindividuation works and affects human behaviors. We will be analyzing the KKK under the lens of deindividuation. But first let's take a moment to re-acquaint ourselves with this notorious racist group.
The KKK originated in the South of the US as part of a racist movement against newly-freed African-Americans in the 1860s. Their distinct uniform separates them from the other hate groups. They would carry out extremely violent lynching targeted towards African-Americans on the basis of white supremacy and anti-social mixing.
So deindividuation happened within the KKK and propelled it to action? Yes. The KKK had all the required foundations for deindividuation to take place. Honestly, it really did.
Anonymity: The uniforms with white masks covered their whole faces and made it impossible to distinguish one member from the other. It gave them the chance to go beyond the extreme without being found out and condemned personally.
Diffused responsibility: As it was impossible to tell which member was who, the responsibility associated with crime vaporized. They would always go on lynching trips together as well. If they were caught, the responsibility was everyone's. And we all know how the saying goes, if something belongs to everyone, it belongs to none.
Group size: The KKK, hateful and condemnable as they may be, has got up to 8,000 members by 2012. Yes, it's still around.
Check this out: http://www.kkk.com/
The Ku Klux Klan is a classic example of how deindividuation works and affects human behaviors. We will be analyzing the KKK under the lens of deindividuation. But first let's take a moment to re-acquaint ourselves with this notorious racist group.
The KKK originated in the South of the US as part of a racist movement against newly-freed African-Americans in the 1860s. Their distinct uniform separates them from the other hate groups. They would carry out extremely violent lynching targeted towards African-Americans on the basis of white supremacy and anti-social mixing.
So deindividuation happened within the KKK and propelled it to action? Yes. The KKK had all the required foundations for deindividuation to take place. Honestly, it really did.
Anonymity: The uniforms with white masks covered their whole faces and made it impossible to distinguish one member from the other. It gave them the chance to go beyond the extreme without being found out and condemned personally.
Diffused responsibility: As it was impossible to tell which member was who, the responsibility associated with crime vaporized. They would always go on lynching trips together as well. If they were caught, the responsibility was everyone's. And we all know how the saying goes, if something belongs to everyone, it belongs to none.
Group size: The KKK, hateful and condemnable as they may be, has got up to 8,000 members by 2012. Yes, it's still around.
Check this out: http://www.kkk.com/
In the wrong hands
The power of deindividuation has been proven through the extent of atrocities that its victims are propelled to execute. Yet it is a process that can be initiated by man, too often for the wrong purpose.
But how do they do it?
One of the most effective methods is forming a group to promote group identity and erase self-awareness, or creating and sustaining anonymity. It can be accomplished through alienation, or persuasion.
Alienation occurs when a group of people are brought together, cut off from the outer world and forced to interact strictly within a closed circle. Gradually, these members will forsake their past, their own values, ideology, and adopt the group's belief as their own. This belief, of course, will be imposed by the very same power that has brought them together. In other words, the authority has transformed the people's perception of the norms, and of what is right and wrong into their own perception. In short, they bring people together, then plant their belief in the people's mind.
Persuasion, on the other hand, is the reverse process. It starts with the implantation of a belief. Once people have adopted the same values, they will come together voluntarily. Such was the case of the Japanese soldiers in WWII, whose nationalism brought them together. Thus, it is often accomplished most successfully by the best public speakers who can spark common trust and provoke action, like the case of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi. Once brought together, their self-identity is taken over by the group identity. They the collective awareness as their own awareness. In both cases, the same result is produced: anonymity and group pride is created.
The use of masks or other means to cover oneself has also been noted to have an important effect on creating anonymity. Once covered up, an individual feels the security of being able to blend in and not called on personally. Every member of the group is the same as one another, thus ensuring anonymity, which offers protection from personal consequences. This can be seen in the example of Ku Klux Klan and their white masks.
Deindividuation is a social process that can be created artificially. History has seen its power being used in the wrong way by the wrong hands - discriminating, mobbing, lynching, mass killing and even the wipe-out of a race.
But how do they do it?
One of the most effective methods is forming a group to promote group identity and erase self-awareness, or creating and sustaining anonymity. It can be accomplished through alienation, or persuasion.
Alienation occurs when a group of people are brought together, cut off from the outer world and forced to interact strictly within a closed circle. Gradually, these members will forsake their past, their own values, ideology, and adopt the group's belief as their own. This belief, of course, will be imposed by the very same power that has brought them together. In other words, the authority has transformed the people's perception of the norms, and of what is right and wrong into their own perception. In short, they bring people together, then plant their belief in the people's mind.
Persuasion, on the other hand, is the reverse process. It starts with the implantation of a belief. Once people have adopted the same values, they will come together voluntarily. Such was the case of the Japanese soldiers in WWII, whose nationalism brought them together. Thus, it is often accomplished most successfully by the best public speakers who can spark common trust and provoke action, like the case of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi. Once brought together, their self-identity is taken over by the group identity. They the collective awareness as their own awareness. In both cases, the same result is produced: anonymity and group pride is created.
The use of masks or other means to cover oneself has also been noted to have an important effect on creating anonymity. Once covered up, an individual feels the security of being able to blend in and not called on personally. Every member of the group is the same as one another, thus ensuring anonymity, which offers protection from personal consequences. This can be seen in the example of Ku Klux Klan and their white masks.
Deindividuation is a social process that can be created artificially. History has seen its power being used in the wrong way by the wrong hands - discriminating, mobbing, lynching, mass killing and even the wipe-out of a race.
How real can it be?
Deindividuation? Alright, the foundation makes sense, but is it a real thing? To which extent does it transpire in real life? Like every other social theory, there is no definite answer. However, there have been instances when controlled experiments were carried out to test the validity of this theory.
THE DECISION TO BELIEVE IN THIS THEORY IS COMPLETELY YOURS.
I. Stanley Milgram's Shock Experiment
II. Ed Diener's Halloween Study
"In a clever [Halloween study] conducted years ago by Ed Diener and colleagues, researchers unobtrusively observed over 1,000 kids trick-or-treating. The children were instructed that they could take one–and only one–piece of candy from a bowl inside a house. The researchers surreptitiously watched and recorded what happened next.
As you might expect, free candy is hard to resist. And visiting kids were all too eager to follow the lead of the costumed gluttons who preceded them: 83% took extra candy when the first kid in their group did likewise.
However, under some circumstances, the kids were less likely to break the rules. Namely, when the adult at the door had previously asked the children their names and what street they lived on–stripping them of their anonymity and reminding them of their individuality–candy-theft conformity dropped to 67%."
More information on the experiment
III. Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment
THE DECISION TO BELIEVE IN THIS THEORY IS COMPLETELY YOURS.
I. Stanley Milgram's Shock Experiment
II. Ed Diener's Halloween Study
"In a clever [Halloween study] conducted years ago by Ed Diener and colleagues, researchers unobtrusively observed over 1,000 kids trick-or-treating. The children were instructed that they could take one–and only one–piece of candy from a bowl inside a house. The researchers surreptitiously watched and recorded what happened next.
As you might expect, free candy is hard to resist. And visiting kids were all too eager to follow the lead of the costumed gluttons who preceded them: 83% took extra candy when the first kid in their group did likewise.
However, under some circumstances, the kids were less likely to break the rules. Namely, when the adult at the door had previously asked the children their names and what street they lived on–stripping them of their anonymity and reminding them of their individuality–candy-theft conformity dropped to 67%."
More information on the experiment
III. Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment
Deindividuation - The foundation
I. Overview:
Deindividuation takes place in our every day life - a football fan club riot at a bad game, a fraternity's hazing tradition, or even middle school bullying groups. Its frequent observation is attributed to the commonness of its founding factors of anonymity, diffused responsibility and group size.
II. Anonymity:
The word "anonymity" is derived from French word "anonymité." It refers to the namelessness of an individual and/or the characteristic of being unidentifiable. Anonymity plays a dominant role in producing the deindividuation effect in groups. When an individual blends in with other individuals, he gradually comes to forsake his self-identity and adopt the group identity; his self-awareness diminishes. The group's thoughts become his own thoughts. He finds the safety of being unidentifiable: he is only a puzzle piece of a big picture; no one will call on him personally. Increased anonymity equals decreased identifiability. In other words, anonymity ensures that an individual cannot be found out.
III. Diffused responsibility:
Diffused responsibility, in addition to anonymity, encourages group members to take on tasks they would not imagine doing alone. The function for responsibility can be roughly interpreted in Math as 1/x, where 1 is an individual and x is the number of members in a group. According to basic Math laws, when the numerator is constant, the larger the denominator, the smaller the whole fraction will be. In other words, the more members there are in a group, the less responsibility one individual has to take on. Together with decreased responsibility is a decrease in the need for self-evaluation, which leads to a reduction in internal inhibitions such as embarrassment and shame. In short, diffused responsibility ensures that an individual is not held responsible.
IV. Group size:
The group size acts as an amplifier: it magnifies the effects of anonymity and diffused responsibility. The larger the group size is, the faster and more effectively deindividuation will take place.
V. The uncut thread:
Deindividuation thrives on the basis of anonymity, diffused responsibility and group size. But how accurate is this speculation in real life? After all, it's just a social theory.
But is it?
Deindividuation takes place in our every day life - a football fan club riot at a bad game, a fraternity's hazing tradition, or even middle school bullying groups. Its frequent observation is attributed to the commonness of its founding factors of anonymity, diffused responsibility and group size.
II. Anonymity:
The word "anonymity" is derived from French word "anonymité." It refers to the namelessness of an individual and/or the characteristic of being unidentifiable. Anonymity plays a dominant role in producing the deindividuation effect in groups. When an individual blends in with other individuals, he gradually comes to forsake his self-identity and adopt the group identity; his self-awareness diminishes. The group's thoughts become his own thoughts. He finds the safety of being unidentifiable: he is only a puzzle piece of a big picture; no one will call on him personally. Increased anonymity equals decreased identifiability. In other words, anonymity ensures that an individual cannot be found out.
III. Diffused responsibility:
Diffused responsibility, in addition to anonymity, encourages group members to take on tasks they would not imagine doing alone. The function for responsibility can be roughly interpreted in Math as 1/x, where 1 is an individual and x is the number of members in a group. According to basic Math laws, when the numerator is constant, the larger the denominator, the smaller the whole fraction will be. In other words, the more members there are in a group, the less responsibility one individual has to take on. Together with decreased responsibility is a decrease in the need for self-evaluation, which leads to a reduction in internal inhibitions such as embarrassment and shame. In short, diffused responsibility ensures that an individual is not held responsible.
IV. Group size:
The group size acts as an amplifier: it magnifies the effects of anonymity and diffused responsibility. The larger the group size is, the faster and more effectively deindividuation will take place.
V. The uncut thread:
Deindividuation thrives on the basis of anonymity, diffused responsibility and group size. But how accurate is this speculation in real life? After all, it's just a social theory.
But is it?
Sunday, March 15, 2015
The concept of Deindividuation
I. Definition:
Deindividuation is a social psychology concept that explains the process of losing self-awareness and individual identity as a person enters a group. Simultaneously, that person will also adopt the social identity of the group. Deindividuation is effective in explaining the erratic and violent behaviors of crowds, lynch mobs, organization, etc.
II. Foundation:
Deindividuation takes place on grounds of three main elements:
Deindividuation retains an influential factor in the course of history. By altering human behaviors of groups, it also changes the way governmental bodies react in terms of policies and legislation. Some examples of how individuation influences history through subsequent administrative actions are the lynch mobs and Reconstruction policies, the Nazi Party, Japanese expansion and World War II involvement, and the current day terrorist groups and foreign policies.
Deindividuation is a social psychology concept that explains the process of losing self-awareness and individual identity as a person enters a group. Simultaneously, that person will also adopt the social identity of the group. Deindividuation is effective in explaining the erratic and violent behaviors of crowds, lynch mobs, organization, etc.
II. Foundation:
Deindividuation takes place on grounds of three main elements:
- Anonymity
- Diffused responsibility
- Group size
Deindividuation retains an influential factor in the course of history. By altering human behaviors of groups, it also changes the way governmental bodies react in terms of policies and legislation. Some examples of how individuation influences history through subsequent administrative actions are the lynch mobs and Reconstruction policies, the Nazi Party, Japanese expansion and World War II involvement, and the current day terrorist groups and foreign policies.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)