Active learning ideas
This topic explores how our behaviour changes when we are part of a group or a crowd. Students learn about prosocial behaviour, such as bystander intervention, and the factors that prevent people from helping, like diffusion of responsibility. They also examine the darker side of group dynamics: deindividuation and crowd behaviour.
Activity 01
Stage a 'dropped books' scenario in different parts of the school with varying numbers of people present. Students record how long it takes for someone to help and then analyse the results using the concept of 'diffusion of responsibility.'
What is the bystander effect?
Activity 02
Display images of crowds in various contexts: sports fans, protesters, and historical riots. Students move around to identify signs of deindividuation (like uniforms or masks) and discuss how these factors changed the individuals' behaviour.
Why do people behave differently in crowds?
Activity 03
Students are given a scenario where someone needs help. They must work in pairs to come up with three specific ways to 'break' the bystander effect and encourage others to intervene, based on psychological principles.
How can prosocial behaviour be encouraged?
A few notes on teaching this unit
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
People don't help in emergencies because they are selfish or uncaring.
Often, people don't help because of 'pluralistic ignorance' (looking to others to see if it's a real emergency) or 'diffusion of responsibility.' A role-play of an ambiguous emergency can help students experience these social pressures.
Being in a crowd always leads to violence or bad behaviour.
Crowds can also foster prosocial behaviour, such as in peaceful protests or community events. A collaborative investigation into 'positive deindividuation' can show how group identity can sometimes lead to heroic or helpful acts.
Methods used in this brief
Conformity and Dispositional Factors
Students will explore why people conform to group pressures, referencing Asch's classic research. They will evaluate how dispositional factors like self-esteem influence conformity.
8 methodologies
Obedience and Situational Factors
This topic investigates the psychology of obedience, focusing on Milgram's agency theory. Students will discuss how situational factors such as proximity and authority figures impact obedient behaviour.
8 methodologies