Crowd & Collective Behaviour (AQA GCSE Psychology): Flashcards
Exam code: 8182
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- FrontDeindividuation
Define deindividuation.
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Define deindividuation.
Deindividuation is the loss of a person’s inhibitions and sense of personal identity when they are part of a crowd (Le Bon, 1895).
Why are people less likely to feel responsible for their actions when part of a crowd?
Being part of a crowd gives individuals anonymity, making it easier to act against their own character and beliefs because they are less likely to be noticed or held responsible.
Wearing a mask during a riot may be explained by the that crowds give to individuals.
Wearing a mask during a riot may be explained by the anonymity that crowds give to individuals.
True or False?
People who behave antisocially as part of a crowd are generally violent, aggressive or law-breaking types.
False.
They are generally not violent, aggressive or law-breaking types — it is the anonymity and freedom from social norms offered by the crowd that releases these negative behaviours.
Give two examples of crowd-related antisocial behaviour described in the note.
A football fan rioting with fellow fans after their team loses, and a child going along with a gang of bullies tormenting another child.
Define the three key factors that influence crowd-led deindividuation.
Wearing a uniform, darkness/cover of night, and wearing a disguise (e.g. a mask, hood or dark glasses).
What did Zimbardo (1969) find about deindividuated participants delivering electric shocks?
Deindividuated participants (whose identities were partially concealed by a large coat and hood) delivered more (fake) electric shocks, and for a longer duration, than participants wearing their normal clothes.
Deindividuation means breaking away from the , making it easier to act according to group behaviour.
Deindividuation means breaking away from the individual self, making it easier to act according to group behaviour.
True or False?
In Zimbardo’s (1973) prison experiment, the guards became brutal and aggressive while the prisoners lost all sense of autonomy.
True.
Male students were randomly assigned the role of prisoner or guard in a simulated prison environment; both groups became deindividuated, with guards turning brutal and aggressive and prisoners losing all sense of autonomy.
Give one way that understanding deindividuation can be applied in practice.
It could be used to help control football fan violence, monitor and manage demonstrations and protests, or prevent prison riots.
Give a second strength of understanding deindividuation, relating to Zimbardo's prison experiment.
It led to raised awareness of the deindividuation of prison life on both guards and prisoners, with calls for reform of the prison system following the study's publication.
What did Baggio et al. (2020) find, and what does this suggest about deindividuation as an explanation for crowd antisocial behaviour?
Baggio et al. (2020) found that violence was higher when prisons were overcrowded, suggesting deindividuation is not the only explanation for crowd antisocial behaviour.
True or False?
Deindividuation always leads to antisocial behaviour, such as when someone wears a nurse’s or priest’s uniform.
False.
Some examples of deindividuation do not lead to antisocial behaviour — a nurse’s or priest’s uniform may instead encourage prosocial behaviour.
Define social loafing.
Social loafing is when someone puts less effort into a task as part of a crowd/group than they would if performing the task alone.
What did Ringlemann (1913) find about effort in a rope-pulling task?
An individual pulling alone exerts about 98% of their potential; this drops to 93% with two people, 85% with three, and 49% by the time eight people are pulling — known as the Ringlemann effect.
True or False?
Ingham et al. (1974) concluded that the decrease in effort found in the Ringlemann effect was due to a loss of coordination rather than motivation.
False.
Ingham et al. (1974) concluded the effort decrease was due to a loss of motivation, not coordination, confirming the Ringlemann effect as an example of social loafing.
Latane et al. (1979) found that by the time six people were clapping and shouting together, individual effort had dropped to only of average individual effort.
Latane et al. (1979) found that by the time six people were clapping and shouting together, individual effort had dropped to only 40% of average individual effort.
Define culture.
Culture refers to the products of socialisation within a specific society, which may be centred on national characteristics, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or geographical characteristics.
How does culture manifest itself?
Outwardly — for example through food, song, dance, rituals and traditions; and inwardly — for example through beliefs, attitudes and superstitions.
Give one reason why social loafing might occur.
For example, thinking ‘no one else in the group is committed to this task so why should I be?’, not wanting to be ‘used’ by others, assuming others will cover for your lack of effort, or thinking ‘my own effort isn’t going to make much difference’.
Describe the difference between individualistic and collectivist cultures.
Individualistic cultures emphasise ‘I’ and ‘me’, favouring independence, ambition and individual effort; collectivist cultures emphasise ‘we’ and ‘us’, favouring interdependence, duty, community and cooperation.
True or False?
The USA and the UK are examples of collectivist cultures, while China and India are examples of individualistic cultures.
False.
The USA and UK are examples of individualistic cultures; China and India are examples of collectivist cultures.
Social loafing is likely to happen in collectivist cultures, as the emphasis is on the group rather than the self.
Social loafing is less likely to happen in collectivist cultures, as the emphasis is on the group rather than the self.
What happens to a person’s effort if they know they are being watched, observed or monitored?
Their effort increases.
What did Earley (1989) find about US and Chinese participants’ effort on a task?
US participants put in more effort when judged as an individual, whereas Chinese participants put in equal effort whether or not they were being judged individually.
True or False?
The negative effects of group work, such as social loafing, apply to all kinds of tasks.
False.
Creative tasks, such as brainstorming, actually benefit from group work — the output from a group can be greater than the sum of individuals working alone.
Give one application (strength) of understanding social loafing.
It could be used to encourage greater employee productivity, promote progress and attainment in educational settings, or enhance team effort in sports.
Give a second strength of the cultural-differences explanation of social loafing.
It has some validity, as it may explain the success of emerging economies such as India and China — where people work hard for the good of the country.
Give a second weakness of the cultural-differences explanation of social loafing.
It relies on generalisations about national culture, but people vary considerably within a country — for example Americans may also belong to a religious group or political party with its own values, making it simplistic to predict individual behaviour from national culture alone.
Define a dispositional explanation of crowd behaviour.
A dispositional explanation is one which focuses on the role of personality in behaviour.
According to the note, how might people’s responses to being in a crowd differ?
There is no absolute way people respond to being in a crowd — some people become quieter, while others become more excitable.
Define an internal locus of control.
People with an internal locus of control take responsibility for their actions, do not blame others or circumstances, and are less likely to be swayed by group pressure.
True or False?
People with an external locus of control are more likely to go along with the group.
True.
People with an external locus of control do not take responsibility for their actions and are more inclined to blame others or circumstances, making them more likely to go along with the group.
Describe Chiu’s (2003) study on whistleblowing.
Chiu (2003) studied 306 Chinese managers and professionals, assessing their locus of control and their intention to whistleblow. Participants with an internal LOC were more likely to blow the whistle than those with an external LOC.
People with an internal locus of control are likely to be swayed by group pressure.
People with an internal locus of control are less likely to be swayed by group pressure.
Give one strength of dispositional explanations of crowd behaviour, relating to locus of control.
Locus of control can also be applied to other forms of social behaviour, such as conformity and obedience — meaning it can be tested for reliability across behaviours.
Define morality.
Morality refers to what an individual believes is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.
Give one example from the note of someone’s morality operating outside of what the law deems right or wrong.
For example, an animal rights activist may feel it is morally right to smash up labs which carry out animal testing, even though this breaks the law.
Name two examples given in the note of people who went against the crowd to stand up for their moral beliefs.
Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Alabama in the 1950s, and Gandhi, who led non-violent protests in his fight for Indian independence.
True or False?
‘Tank Man’ permanently stopped the advance of tanks in Beijing in 1989.
False.
‘Tank Man’ temporarily stopped the advance of tanks in Beijing in 1989, which had been sent in to break up a student protest.
Give a second strength of dispositional explanations of crowd behaviour, relating to morality.
Historical examples — such as Rosa Parks, Gandhi and ‘Tank Man’ — validate the argument that morality is a strong dispositional factor in resisting collective behaviour.
What did Bocchiaro et al. (2012) find, and how does this affect the dispositional argument?
Bocchiaro et al. (2012) found that whistle-blowing amongst a sample of employees did not show real personality differences, which weakens the dispositional argument.
A weakness of measuring morality using self-reports is that people may say they would act morally but may actually act .
A weakness of measuring morality using self-reports is that people may say they would act morally but may actually act immorally.
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