A social identity model of deindividuation phenomena
Reicher, Spears and Postmes challenge traditional models of deindividuation, which assume that immersion in a group and anonymity cause a loss of selfhood and so of control over behaviour. They argue that such models rest on an individualistic conception of the self as a unitary construct, and propose instead that the self can be defined at several levels, including the categorical self as well as the personal self. They outline a social identity model of deindividuation and present evidence that deindividuation manipulations work through their effects on the salience of social identity.
Reicher, Spears and Postmes challenge traditional models of deindividuation, which assume that immersion in a group and anonymity cause a loss of selfhood and so of control over behaviour. They argue that such models rest on an individualistic conception of the self as a unitary construct, and propose instead that the self can be defined at several levels, including the categorical self as well as the personal self. They outline a social identity model of deindividuation and present evidence that deindividuation manipulations work through their effects on the salience of social identity.
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Reicher, S. D., Spears, R., & Postmes, T. (1995). A social identity model of deindividuation phenomena. European Review of Social Psychology, 6, 161-198. doi:10.1080/14792779443000049 https://doi.org/10.1080/14792779443000049