Deindividuation Research Paper

Grayson Garrett
Mrs. Faher
3B
May 30, 2019
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Carlo Zen once said, “In an isolated space, humans would submit to power and authority,

while those in dominant positions would wield it without restriction”. This quote explains how

power within a society can cloud judgment and restrict normal thinking. ​Lord of the Flies​,

written by William Golding, is a novel about a group of boys that are stranded on an island after

their plane crashed with no adults. They encounter external and internal obstacles that creates

conflict between the boys. The challenges they face lead them to an uncivilized society that

reverts back to savage ways. Deindividuation is the phenomenon that when one becomes apart of

a group, they lose their sense of identity and responsibility for their actions (Changing Minds 1).

They feel as if they are untouchable and have the ability to be involved in any event and that

event would not affect themselves individually. They tend to partake in actions that they would

not normally participate in alone. In the text, deindividuation suppresses identity within the

groups to make them perform violent acts that would not normally occur.

The loss of a sense of identity occurs during deindividuation. According to studies, when

people are apart of a group, individuals feel as if they are not noticed as much as they would be if

they were doing this act individually; therefore, they are more likely to participate in acts that

they would not normally perform (Villanova 1). There is also a regression of human moral

values and ideals that occurs when deindividuation begins within a group. The first example of

this displayed within ​Lord of the Flies​ occurs when Jack and his hunters savagely cut open and

kill the pig they had slaughtered with no guilt or remorse for what they had just done (Golding

75). This shows they are reverting back to their old ways, instead of coming up with solutions to

obstacles and overcoming them in a more civil matter. It is portrayed when, “Jack planned his

new face. He made one cheek and one eye-socket white, then he rubbed red over the other half of
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his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw” (Golding 63). Face

paint or hiding of one’s face is often used to hide one’s identity and to go unnoticed. When this

occurs, the person’s inner restraints are repressed. Face paint is commonly used by individuals to

hide their identities from the things around them (Changing Minds 1). Within the novel, Jack and

his hunters paint their faces in order to lose their identity within the group and blend in so that

they could capture a pig for the group and eventually eat it (Golding 63). Jack & his hunters are

more likely to participate in these violent events when their identity is hidden and concealed.

After they used face paint, “He noticed blood on his hands and grimaced distastefully, looked for

something on which to clean them, then wiped them on his shorts and laughed” (Golding 69).

This shows the violent acts that they are taking part in when using face paint. Since they are

apart of a group of people, if they witness one person take part in the event, like Jack, then the

rest would follow. As people start to lose their identity as themselves and become apart of a

group, they feel as if they have no individual accountability for their actions.

Deindividuation makes people feel as if there are no consequences and they do not have

to take responsibility for their actions. Crowd mentality is the basis of deindividuation, in which

it encourages people within groups to show more aggression while not realizing future

consequences for their actions (Douglas 1). During the book, the tribe was doing their dance

where they pretend to surround a pig and kill, except when they were messing around Simon

wondered out of the woods and it was dark so it looked like he was the beast. The group

surrounded him and pushed him off an edge killing him, while Simon was pleading for his life

that he was not the beast (Golding 152). Deindividuation makes them think as they are within a

group that the blame for any actions is shared throughout the group, so they were more likely to
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participate in killing what they thought was the beast. They were less concerned with the

consequences that would have come if it was or was not the beast that they had just killed, and

more concerned with taking part in the event. Any actions that are taken during this state are not

likely to be accounted for any time in the future (BC Campus 1). They are not aware of what

they had just partaken in until after the damage has been done. Simon’s dead body floats up onto

the island and Ralph screams that this was murder, while Piggy tries to calm him down saying

that it was an accident and they did not mean to do it (Golding 156). Deindividuation causes a

person to not realize what they are doing until after the fact that it is done. This is exactly what

happen with Simon’s death. They were in a state of hidden identity and did not take in the

consequences of their actions at the time, which lead to a violent and devastating act that was

Simon’s death. The people who took place in the killing of Simon, did not feel as if they would

be held accountable for any of their actions at the time, which is an effect of deindividuation.

The perception that one will not be held accountable for their actions when in this state is what

leads people to conform to the group and attempt to be accepted within it.

Deindividuation causes people to want to conform to the group standards while losing

their morality. The members take on the identity of the group and they form under once voice

(Kirby 1). The cause of this is a heightened loss of identity. Jack’s tribe continuously chant, “Kill

the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding 186). Through this chant they are

demonstrating that they are all under one voice and are essentially apart of one entity. The

individuals lose their feeling of individuality as a result of this because everyone is chanting the

same words at the same time, making it feel as they are all one. Everyone is conforming to this

one voice and participating in this violet chant as a result. Individuals are forced to follow a sort
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of group cohesiveness and conform to the group’s identity without individual say (Rogers 1).

The twins, Samneric, were tortured and forced to join Jack’s tribe where they could not express

their own views and they ended up having to turn down aiding Ralph, who has helped them so

much in the past, when Jack was planning on hunting him down (Golding 188). Samneric say,

“You got to go because it’s not safe--they made us. They hurt us” (Golding 188). Being tortured

is what made them conform to the group and become one with them. Deindividuation is a

dangerous phenomenon that attracts more people to be apart of a group and conform to their

ideals.

In ​Lord of the Flies,​ individual identity is eliminated within deindividuation, causing

vulgar acts to occur. A loss of identity leads to acts performed by a person that they would not

normally do. There is a feeling of unaccountability that goes across all of the group. A person’s

ability to conform to the group standards is what leads to this phenomenon known as

deindividuation to occur. This topic is very important because it shows what people are capable

of when they join a group and lose their sense of identity and individuality. Authors put their

characters through these situations to not only develop the characters, but to be able to show how

this phenomenon can be displayed and relates to the reader. Deindividuation reveals that human

beings are capable of much more when apart of a group. Their tendencies change and their ideals

are not consistent with that of when they are alone.

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Works Cited

Deindividuation​. Changing Minds. n.d. 18 May 2019.

<changingminds.org/explanations/theories/deindividuation.htm>.

Douglas, Karen. ​Deindividuation​. Encyclopedia Britannica. n.d. 19 May 2019.

<​https://www.britannica.com/topic/deindividuation​>.

Golding, William. ​Lord of the Flies.​ Faber and Faber, 1954.

Kirby, Stephanie. ​What Is Deindividuation And What Is The Danger.​ Betterhelp. 9 May 2019. 19
May 2019.
<​https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/general/what-is-deindividuation-and-what-is-the-danger/​>.

Principles of Social Psychology​. BC Campus. n.d. 19 May 2019.

<​https://opentextbc.ca/socialpsychology/chapter/the-cognitive-self-the-self-concept/​>.

Rogers, Ronald. “Deindividuation and Anger-Mediated Interracial Aggression: Unmasking

regressive racism.” ​APA PsychNET.​ American Psychological Association, 2019.
Web. 19 May 2019. <​https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1982-05725-001​>.

Russell, Tom. “Deindividuation and Antinormative Behavior: a meta-analysis.” ​APA PsychNET.​

American Psychological Association, 2019. Web. 19 May 2019.
<​https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/1998-01884-005​>.

Vilanova, Felipe.​ Deindividuation: From Le Bon to the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation
Effects.​ Taylor & Francis Online. 5 April 2017. 18 May 2019.
<​https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311908.2017.1308104​>.