Anonymity and group antisocial behavior.

Summary According to the anonymity explanation of group antisocial behavior, group membership facilitates antisocial behavior because individuals feel more anonymous in groups than alone. This explanation was tested under three hypotheses: (a) group membership facilitates antisocial behavior, (b) group membership causes feelings of anonymity, and (c) anonymity facilitates antisocial behavior. Sixteen men and 10 women from an introductory personality course at Western Illinois University were asked to state how willing they were to engage in an antisocial behavior (carrying a sign reading, “masturbation is fun”) under four conditions: alone, undisguised; alone, disguised; in a group, undisguised; and in a group, disguised. Ss were more willing to carry the signs in groups than alone and disguised than undisguised. They also stated that they felt that they would be more anonymous in a group than alone and disguised than undisguised. All differences were statistically significant. Support was thus found for ...