Deindividuation in the Littering Equation
- David Zu
- Aug 19, 2021
- 2 min read
Social psychology is a fascinating field which ties very closely into environmentalism and possible practical solutions that could help solve human issues such as littering. As we observed in today's cleanup, high-traffic areas that attract lots of people often lead to huge groups forming in parks.
This can lead to a phenomenon known as "deindividuation". According to Lumen Learning,
Deindividuation is exactly what the word implies: a loss of one’s individuality. Instead of acting as individuals, people experiencing deindividuation become lost in a group. This often means that they will go along with whatever the group is doing, whether it be rioting, looting, lynching, or engaging in cyberbullying. Some people posit that this happens because individuals experience a sense of anonymity in a group. The larger the group, the higher the incidence of deindividuation, which is characterized by an individual relinquishing self-consciousness and control and doing what the group is doing. This occurs when people are moved by the group experience to do things that, without the group for support, they would not normally do.
In a nutshell, people lose their sense of individuality and responsibility, enabling them to commit unethical actions such as littering without much consideration of consequences. It is also far harder as a society to hold people accountable when they're in large groups: think riots, protests, and mobs.
How can we solve this in the context of environmentalism? An article from ThoughtCo writes, "According to some researchers, people lack self-awareness when they are deindividuated; consequently, one way to counter the effects of deindividuation is to make people more self-aware." Perhaps the solution here is to add more signs and reminders so that people constantly believe they are being watched; and their actions will have consequences.

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