What is deindividuation? What was the former idea about it, and the more modern conception? What is the experience with English "soccer hooligans" that supports the modern idea?
What will be an ideal response?
Answer:
Deindividuation is a state of reduced self-awareness brought on by being an anonymous member of a crowd. The old idea was that being in a crowd makes people anonymous and therefore less responsible or accountable for their actions. They are therefore less restrained and more likely to behave in "anti-social" ways.
More recently, Postmes and Spears (1998) showed that deindividuation leads to greater behavior that follows the norms of the group, not less. In other words, it is not that people "run amok," behaving anti-socially, but in a crowd, they are more likely to follow the norms of the crowd, especially if they are highly-identified with the group. After psychologists working with police talked to English soccer fan leaders, violent incidents caused by fans stopped. I.e., the norms of the group changed, and so individual "hooligans" stopped behaving so violently.
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