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8/7/2019 Human Behavior Experiments Stealing and Children
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TREAT AND A TRICKTitle of Experiment: Effects of
Deindividuation Variables on Stealingamong Halloween Trick-or-Treaters
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To assess the effects of several variables
on stealing by children, including
anonymity versus nonanonymity in bothindividual and group activities, and
assigning to one child the accountability
for the actions of the others.
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The subjects were some 1,300 children
who arrived at 27 homes on Halloween to
trick-or-treat. The entry hall in each ofthe homes was arranged with a low table.
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It contain a large bowl of individually
wrapped candy bars at one end and a
bowl filled with nickels and pennies atthe other end. Overlooking the table was
a backdrop with a peephole, behind
which was camouflaged an observer.
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A female experimenter greeted the
children at the door, smiling and
remarking on their costumes. She thentold each child or group of children, "You
[or each of you] may take one of the
candies. I have to go back to my work in
another room
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." The instructions were repeated if a
child asked about the money or had any
questions about what he was supposed todo. She then left the room, and the
observer noted for each child how much
candy he took and whether he took any
money from the other bowl.
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In some of the cases, the neighborhood
children, all unknown to the
experimenter, were asked their namesand addresses (nonanonymous
condition). In these instances, the
experimenter repeated the information
to be sure that the children knew that sheremembered it.
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In other cases, none of the children were
asked their names, and thus all remained
anonymous. In still other cases, theresponsibility of the members of the
group of children was altered by making
only one child responsible for the actions
of the others (altered responsibility).
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This was done by selecting the smallestchild in the group and asking his or hername and address. It was felt that if the
smallest child were chosen, he or shecould be made the scapegoat by theothers, and also he or she would have theleast power to influence the actions of theothers. To this child was given theresponsibility of seeing that each of theothers took only one candy.
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Conclusions: Of the more than 1,300
children unwittingly taking part in this
experiment, 416 of them transgressed. In65% of these cases, extra candy was
taken; in 14% the child took only money;
and in 21% of the cases, the child took
both extra candy and money.
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When the experimenter knew the
identities of all of the children in a group,
stealing of candy and/or money occurredin over 20% of the cases, but when trick-
or-treaters arrived alone and were
identified by name, stealing occurred in
only 7.5% of the cases.
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When children arrived alone and remainedanonymous, transgressions occurred in 21%of the cases, but when they arrived in
groups and remained anonymous, stealingoccurred in over 57% of the cases. Finally, inthe groups where all children remainedanonymous except for the smallest child,
who was given responsibility for the actionsof the others, stealing occurred in 80% ofthe cases.
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first, that under conditions of anonymity,
more antisocial behavior was likely to
occur, because the fear of being caughtwas reduced;
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second, that because of the feeling that
there is safety in numbers, children are
more likely to commit transgressions ingroups than if they are alone;
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finally, that by making the child least
likely to influence others supposedly
responsible for their actions, stealingwould increase, because the others
would feel that they themselves were not
responsible.