Beware of the "Group Mentality"

Deindividuation is a social finding that demonstrates that when people are grouped, they are more likely to behave with increased aggression, deviance, or in other socially unacceptable ways (Guerin, 1999) outside of their norm. Postemes and Spears (1998) found that behaviors of the group are directly impacted by variables such as cohesiveness, identifiability to those outside of the group, and accountability. As Guerin (1999) suggests, these findings demonstrate that behaviors of and within the group are shaped by immediate and distal consequences, particularly when participants feel that their behavior is not discernible. 

 As a second career, I am a professional mixed martial arts coach. As sports enthusiast and former athlete, I have been to many events where spectators’ self-awareness has plummeted as they began “following the crowd” with loud screams and “boos”. I have even witnessed friends who have never fought in their life aggress towards members of the opposing team. During some sporting occasions, “extracurricular” activities may occur outside of the event in the form of two people "facing off". Many times it ends at that. But sometimes it doesn't.

This actually happened at an event I was at just two weeks ago. Two people began arguing, and then like a ripple effect, sides were formed, and both groups were arguing. Then suddenly, chairs were being thrown around. Back and forth. In most cases I'm fairly certain the people involved had never thrown a chair at somebody in their life. I even observed an elderly woman hit somebody with her purse! Under normal circumstances (e.g. at work, in a mall), these type of behaviors would fall under the stimulus control of the "norms" of the environment; however, under the conditions of "diffused accountability", the researchers suggest that the spectators are "deindividuated" and emit uncharacteristic behaviors as evidenced by cheering the fight on, or engaging in it. 

Deindividuation in any area can be a dangerous phenomenon laden with a multitude of unethical behaviors. It happens in more than sporting events. I've seen the "pack mentality" occur in professional organizations. While it wasn't physical, the verbal beatings were brutal. It would be interesting to study this phenomena through a deeper behavior analysis. However, whatever you want to call it, or however you want to explain it, a good rule of thumb to live by is to be aware of your own behavior and the impact of your environment on it. Don't follow the crowd...identify and commit to following your values. 

If you are an ethical and moral person, one way to make your personal and professional life easier is to surround yourself with folks who have similar values. Check out this video by Brett DiNovi & Associates on the topics. If you like the article, please follow me. If you enjoyed the video, please subscribe to Behavioral Karma using the link below the video.

References

Gert, B. (2011). The usefulness of a comprehensive systematic moral theory. Teaching Ethics, 12(1), 25-38.

Guerin, B. (1999). Social behaviors as determined by different arrangements of social consequences; social loafing, social facilitation, deindividuation, and a modified social loafing. The Psychological Record 49, (p. 565-578).

Postemes, T, & Spears, R. (1998). Deindividuation and antinormative behavior: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 123 (p. 238-259).