Without Mercy: The Immediate Impact of Group Size on Lynch Mob Atrocity

Abstract

Two independent research traditions have focused on social contributions to lynching. The sociological power threat hypothesis has argued that lynching atrocity will increase as a function of the relative number of African Americans. The psychological self-attention theory has argued that lynching atrocity will increase as a function of the relative number of mob members. Two series of analyses (one using newspaper reports and the second using photographic records) using different and nonoverlapping samples of lynching events rendered a consistent pattern of results: Lynch mob atrocity did not increase as a function of the relative numbers of African Americans in the county population but it did increase as a function of the relative numbers of mob members in the lynch mob. Discussion considers the implications of these results.

Cat-Calls and Culpability: Investigating the Frequency and Functions of Stranger Harassment

“…Participants also indicated stranger harassment was more likely to occur in group contexts because these behaviors serve a group bonding function. The former finding is consistent with the literature that anonymity (whether it be from the presence of other group members or the absence of individuating information in social interactions) often leads to more extreme and uninhibited behavior (Barak 2005;Coffey and Woolworth 2004;Diener 1979;Diener et al 1976;Kiesler et al 1984;Leader et al 2007;Lee and Leets 2002;Sproull and Kiesler 1986). Our data suggests stranger harassment can be added to this list of behaviors.…”

Aversive Racism and Contemporary Bias

“…Mullen (1986), for instance, found that interracial violence by Whites against Blacks often occurs within a social context that permits or encourages aggression. His analysis of newspaper reports of Blacks being lynched by White mobs revealed that violence against Blacks was more likely when Whites were part of a larger group and experienced greater anonymity and deindividuation (see also Leader, Mullen, & Abrams, 2007). Thus, factors that normally disinhibit aggressive behavior, such as provocation and anonymity, may be especially potent within intergroup contexts for promoting interracial aggression toward Blacks.…”

Predicting Lynching Atrocity: The Situational Norms of Lynchings in Georgia

“…Consistent with this notion of anonymity, larger groups have been found to be more violent than smaller groups (McGloin & Piquero, 2009). And, related to group size, Mullen (1986) and Leader et al (2007) examined the atrocity of lynching events through group composition in the form of the Other-Total Ratio, which is calculated as the number of victims in an event divided by the total number of victims and perpetrators at the event. As lynch mobs grew in size, relative to the victims present, mob members committed more atrocious lynchings.…”

“…The portrayed mob, with blurred faces and bodies melding into a single mass, depicts deindividuation, which is the most common explanation for the atrocity of lynchings (Leader, Mullen, & Abrams, 2007; Mullen, 1986). According to deindividuation, individuals are more likely to break norms and commit atrocious acts when they are anonymous and not self-attentive (Diener, 1980; Festinger, Pepitone, & Newcomb, 1952).…”