Editing Diffusion of responsibility (section)

===Anonymity===
In addition, diffusion of responsibility is more likely to occur under conditions of anonymity.  In prosocial situations, individuals are less likely to intervene when they do not know the victim personally.  Instead, they believe that someone who has a relationship with the victim will assist.  In [[Anti-social behaviour|antisocial]] situations, negative behaviours are more likely to be carried out when the person is in a group of similarly motivated individuals. The behaviour is driven by the [[Deindividuation|deindividuating]] effects of group membership and the diffusion of feelings of personal responsibility for the consequences.<ref name="Mathes E">{{cite journal | last1 = Mathes | first1 = E. W. | last2 = Kahn | first2 = A. | year = 1975 | title = Diffusion of responsibility and extreme behaviour | journal = Journal of Personality and Social Psychology | volume = 31 | issue = 5| pages = 881–886 | doi=10.1037/h0076695}}</ref> As part of this process, individuals become less self-aware and feel an increased sense of anonymity.  As a result, they are less likely to feel responsible for any antisocial behaviour performed by their group.  Diffusion of responsibility is also a causal factor governing much crowd behaviour, as well as risk-taking in groups.<ref name="Wallach M 1">{{cite journal | last1 = Wallach | first1 = M. A. | last2 = Kogan | first2 = N. | last3 = Bem | first3 = D. J. | year = 1964 | title = Diffusion of responsibility and level of risk taking in groups | url =https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108279/1/ets200956.pdf | journal = Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology | volume = 68 | issue = 3| pages = 263–274 | doi=10.1037/h0042190| pmid = 14126840 | hdl = 2027.42/108279 | hdl-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Le Bon">Le Bon, G. (1995, 1895). The crowd: a study of the popular mind. London: Transaction. {{ISBN|978-1-56000-788-3}}.</ref>

Contrary to anonymity, it has been shown that if one can utilise technology to prevent anonymity, it can further prevent diffusion of responsibility. Studies have shown that if emails are sent directly to individuals as opposed to addressing individuals in mass emails, they can prevent diffusion of responsibility and elicit more responses. In addition to eliciting more responses, the responses that were received from individuals, as opposed to groups, were longer and more helpful to the initial questions asked.<ref name="Barron Yechiam 2002"/>