Deindividuation Theory

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For many years, Psychologists have been interested in understanding group behaviour in terms of social and psychological processes and how being in a crowd alters human behaviour. The concept of contagion suggests that individuals in crowds feel one among many, which in turn encourages members to feel anonymous and similarly deindividuation theorists propose that group immersion causes a diminished sense of responsible self through anonymity. However, social identity theorists fail to recognise a loss of identity but rather an adoption of common social identity felt within a group. The concepts of contagion and deindividuation in relation to crowd behaviour, attempt to explain why crowds behave in certain ways and this essay will be discussing …show more content…
This is seen as a heavy involvement with a group of people whereby eventually individuals cease to recognise themselves as a separate entity from the group. This theory sets out to explain the behaviours that are associated with rioting and looting by suggesting that rioters have a decreased perception of being identified within a group, increasing their feelings of anonymity, which in turn leads to impetuous, sometimes outrageous behaviour that is responsive to their current social environment and cues. There are similarities within Le Bon's work and deindividuation theories as they both recognise that being in a group effects individuals behaviour however deindividuation theories focus more on the individual within a group and the social context that they are in at the time and how the social context influences certain …show more content…
This implies that deindividuation can occur in many social contexts and the type of method used when investigating deindividuation is not an issue as negative behaviours are produced in most negative situations. Nevertheless, much deindividuation research is situated within the time after the Second World War, whereby Psychologists were interested in understanding why people acted the way they did, meaning that knowledge at that time was situated to investigate deindividuation in terms of
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