deindividuation

(noun)

Individuals' loss of self-awareness when in a group.

Related Terms

  • confederate
  • obedience
  • groupthink
  • authority

(noun)

A concept in social psychology that is generally thought of as the losing of self-awareness in groups.

Related Terms

  • confederate
  • obedience
  • groupthink
  • authority

Examples of deindividuation in the following topics:

  • Group Behavior

    • Groups influence individual decision-making processes in a variety of ways, such as groupthink, groupshift, and deindividuation.
    • While there are many ways a group can influence behavior, we will focus on three key phenomena: groupthink, groupshift, and deindividuation.
    • Deindividuation happens when a person lets go of self-consciousness and control and does what the group is doing, usually with negative goals or outcomes.
    • Deindividuation is exactly what the word implies: a loss of one's individuality.
    • Instead of acting as individuals, people experiencing deindividuation become lost in a group.
  • Obedience

    • In addition to environmental factors, Zimbardo attributes many of the guards' actions to deindividuation afforded by the authority position and even the anonymity of the uniforms.
    • The Abu Ghraib prison scandal has been interpreted based on the results of this study, suggesting that deindividuation may also have impacted the guards' behavior in that situation.
    • Deindividuation: The essence of obedience consists in the fact that people come to view themselves not as individuals but as instruments for carrying out others' wishes, and thus no longer see themselves as responsible for their actions.
Subjects
  • Accounting
  • Algebra
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Microbiology
  • Physics
  • Physiology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Statistics
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • Writing

Except where noted, content and user contributions on this site are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 with attribution required.