Deindividualization or what happens when identity is hidden

When we are within a group, our behavior can change radically. What also happens when our identity is camouflaged or hidden? Here we tell you

Generally, People’s behavior varies when they are in groups, since in a way they experience the sensation of being in an environment in which “anything goes.” When found within a large group, deindividualization occurs. That is to say, The individual usually loses his identity and incorporates the identity of the group, as well as its rules.

Thus, it is very common for the behavior of human beings to be different when being within a mass of people; even sometimes it becomes somewhat abnormal and almost always with a higher violence component. Other times the opposite occurs: non-aggressive and even somewhat apathetic behavior is manifested..

Definition and historical background

Deindividuation is a state in which individual self-evaluations by being part of a crowd. Is characterized due to a lower awareness of the self and one’s own individuality. This can result in antinormative and disinhibited behavior, “forcing crowd members to sometimes behave in uncivilized and violent ways” (Diener, 1976).

Theories such as Gustave Le Bon’s crowd theory provide a foundation for understanding deindividuation. Le Bon proposes that anonymity, suggestibility and contagion can turn groups of people into so-called “psychological crowds.” In these crowds, The collective mind captures that of the individual, making them more irrational, fickle and suggestible. (Postmes, 2001). As a consequence of this, people are easily controlled by the leader of the crowd.

Theorists such as Leo Festinger believed that deindividuation occurred when members of a group were not treated as individuals, making them unaccountable for themselves. This irresponsibility leads to a reduction in internal restraint, which increases behavior that would normally be inhibited. Like Lee Bon, Festinger defined deindividuation as a loss of individuality through immersion in a crowd. However, for him this individuality is not replaced by the collective mind. Rather, deindividuation simply frees an individual from the normal moral constraints of it.

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Increased aggression

A study was carried out in which participants had to wear clothes that covered their faces, providing them with anonymity. The result was that many of the participating subjects showed greater aggression and violence. It’s what happens when the individual is within a group where he cannot be recognized and, due to this condition, feels that he can act with impunity.

The most curious thing about this whole question is How the way subjects act can be modified when there is no close surveillance that forces them to comply with certain rules, that is, to act in a “civilized” way. Within a crowd the individual ceases to be such and is less aware of his individuality, forgetting the rules of acceptable behavior within the society in which he lives.

The “virtues” are also contagious

We should not conclude that all groups will behave violently and disrespectfully. When the masses have their own identity as a group, with their rules of behavior, they will be governed by them. Thus, if their group parameters are to act slowly and peacefully, they will do so.

That feeling of belonging to a group is what drives the behavior of individuals. Therefore, If the group begins to act incorrectly and aggressively, it is very likely that the individual will continue along that line.. Likewise in organizations of a humanitarian nature and helping others, the individual will follow the dictates of the group and can carry out amazing actions of total generosity for others. And in the end, The participants of a group behave according to what the group enacts.

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The importance of avoiding deindividualization

Is this deindividualization which leads participants to allow themselves to be carried away without using their own criteria, but rather that of the group, for better or worse. Membership in a group, and the anonymity that it sometimes entails, cannot be carte blanche for reprehensible behavior that would never take place if it were not protected by the group and above all by anonymity.

It is important to stop for a moment to think about our behavior when we are acting within a group, in which there are specific rules to follow. The fundamental thing is not to lose your identity and continue acting according to your own values and criteria.especially when the group exhibits aggressive and violent or unethical behavior.

If you participate in an organization, or find yourself involved in a mass situation at any given time, it is important that you ask yourself if your way of acting when you find yourself under anonymity is leading you to deindividualization. That is to say, if you are still able to maintain your ethical principles or if, on the contrary, your behavior changes too much and you find yourself acting outside your own limits.

In this case, it is advisable that you look for a way to remedy the situation or, if you consider that it has already become very serious and you have the possibility of choosing, perhaps it is time to rethink your continuity in the group.