Effects of altered responsibility, cognitive set, and modeling on physical aggression and deindividuation

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Citation:

Diener, E., Dineen, J., & Endresen, K. (1975). Effects of altered responsibility, cognitive set, and modeling on physical aggression and deindividuation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31(2), 328-337.

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Abstract:

Assessed the role of 3 disinhibiting variables in producing both physical aggression and an internal state of deindividuation, using 64 male college students as Ss. Altered responsibility, cognitive set, and modeling were manipulated in a factorial design, and all 3 variables significantly increased physical aggression. No interaction produced significant results. The increase due to altered responsibility and varying cognitions supports P. G. Zimbardo's theory of deindividuation which relates certain input variables to wild, impulsive behavior. Questionnaire data indicate that the increase in aggression was not accompanied by internal mediational factors such as reduced self-awareness. It appears that disinhibiting forces may produce increases in antisocial behavior without necessarily producing a deindividuated internal state.

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