The process of losing individual identity or becoming absorbed into a group, causing loss of personal responsibility and self-awareness.
From 'de-' (reversal) plus 'individualization', from Latin 'individuus' (indivisible, individual). This psychological term emerged in the 20th century to describe group behavior phenomena.
Psychologists noticed that people in crowds commit acts they'd never do alone—'deindividualization' explains why normally kind people become reckless in mobs, because the group absorbs their personal identity.
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