Anonymity and Deindividuation Thesis

Chapter 8: Another SPOILER-oriented discussion question, so make sure to read the slides first! Recall the PowerPoint slide looking at anonymity and deindividuation.

I asked you the following question in that slide: “If you could do anything humanly possible with complete assurance that you would not and could not be detected or held responsible, what would you do? Note: diving to the bottom of the ocean or flying without the aid of equipment doesn’t count, as they aren’t humanly possible! List 3 things you would do. 1. _____, 2. _____, 3. ______.”

1). I’d like you to share your answers with your group (But only if you are willing to share that information, of course! Otherwise, you can label your answers as non-normative, neutral, pro-social, or antisocial if you don’t want to reveal your actual answers, though this is less fun!). 2). If you listed an antisocial behavior among those three, tell me what prevents you from actually performing that antisocial action?

Research, after all, indicates that college students and convicts answer in much the same way, so why are you free and they are in prison? 3). If you have a pro-social behavior listed, why would you want to do this action anonymously?

What do you get out of being anonymous about something that is pro-social in nature? 4). Finally, discuss one of your actions in light of at least one of the elements found in the deindividuation section of your group’s chapter (heightened arousal, attentional cues, accountability cues, or benefits of deindividuation). Make sure to DEFINE that characteristic before applying it to your list item.