Accession Number : ADA013230

Title :   The Chilling Effects of Surveillance: Deindividuation and Reactance

Descriptive Note : Technical rept.

Corporate Author : STANFORD UNIV CA DEPT OF PSYCHOLOGY

Personal Author(s) : White, Gregory L ; Zimbardo, Philip G

PDF Url : ADA013230

Report Date : May 1975

Pagination or Media Count : 31

Abstract : Americans are becoming more aware that one's private life may be under surveillance by government agencies and other institutions. Two social- psychological theories are discussed that can be applied to the effect of potentially aversive surveillance on opinion inhibition. The deindividuation- individuation hypothesis predicts that people will avoid opinion expression, while the psychological reactance hypothesis predicts opinion assertion and attack upon threatening agents. To test these notions, a reactance-arousing threat (videotaping of marijuana opinions which would be sent to the FBI) was orthogonally crossed with actual performance of the threatened action. The results are reported.

Descriptors :   *REACTION(PSYCHOLOGY), *SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, *SURVEILLANCE, ATTACK, AVOIDANCE, BEHAVIOR, CANNABIS, FACTOR ANALYSIS, HYPOTHESES, PERFORMANCE TESTS, PREDICTIONS, PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS, THREATS, VIDEO TAPE RECORDING

Subject Categories : Psychology

Distribution Statement : APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE