deindividuation

English

Etymology

de- +‎ individuation, first described in 1952 by Leon Festinger and colleagues.

Noun

deindividuation (uncountable)

  1. (psychology) The situation where antinormative behaviour is released in groups in which individuals are not seen or paid attention to as individuals; immersion in a group to the point at which the individual ceases to be seen as such.
    • 2011 July 23, Tim Adams, “How the internet created an age of rage”, in The Observer‎:
      Digital media allow almost unlimited opportunity for wilful deindividuation. They almost require it. The implications of those liberties, of the ubiquity of anonymity and the language of the crowd, are only beginning to be felt.

Further reading
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