behavioural psychologists have known for quite some meter that people are more likely to harm others when they ’re part of a mathematical group . A raw study suggests that “ gang mind-set ' ” pass off when we block up reflecting on our own personal moral standards .
the great unwashed become more hostile when there ’s an ‘ us and them ’ scenario . mortal in groups often exhibit behaviors that are adverse to their secret moral standards . Studies have shown that , when people are in a group , they feel more anonymous , and that they ’re less potential to be enamor . They also feel less accountable for a corporate action .
But a new discipline by Mina Cikara and Rebecca Saxe offers a third factor : The hypnotism that hoi polloi in groups lose feeling with their own moral and notion and become more likely to do things they would normally trust are haywire .
Anne Trafton from MIT New Officeexplains :
In a report that recently went online in the journalNeuroImage , the researchers measured mind natural process in a part of the brain involved in thinking about oneself . They found that in some people , this natural process was reduced when the subjects participated in a competition as part of a grouping , compare with when they vie as individuals . Those mass were more likely to harm their competition than mass who did not exhibit this decreased wit activity .
“ This procedure alone does not report for intergroup struggle : Groups also promote anonymity , diminish personal responsibility , and encourage reframing harmful action at law as ‘ necessary for the cracking unspoilt . ’ Still , these final result suggest that at least in some cases , explicitly reflecting on one ’s own personal moral standards may facilitate to attenuate the influence of ‘ mob mind-set , ' ” says Mina Cikara , a former MIT postdoc and lead author of the NeuroImage newspaper .
More atMIT News , including details about the experiment . study the intact study : “ Reduced self - referential neural response during intergroup competition predicts competitor scathe . ”
Image : Hugo Jaeger — Time & Life Pictures / Getty Images .
BehaviorCognitive sciencePsychologyScience
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