The Power of Anonymity and Costumes

Would you steal Halloween candy? Should people be required to identify themselves online?  And why did Angela go trick-or-treating in a trash bag? 

• SOURCES:
  • Hajo Adam, professor of management at the University of Bath.
  • Marianna Cerini, journalist.
  • Edward Diener, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Illinois.
  • Adam Galinsky, professor of leadership and ethics at Columbia Business School.
  • J. Nathan Matias, assistant professor at the Cornell University Departments of Communication and Information Science.
  • Lisa Morton, paranormal historian and author.
  • Isaac Bashevis Singer, 20th-century Polish-American author.
  • Philip Zimbardo, professor emeritus of psychology at Stanford University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Halloween Was Once So Dangerous That Some Cities Considered Banning It," by Christopher Klein (History, 2023).
  • "Why Do People Sometimes Wear an Anonymous Mask? Motivations for Seeking Anonymity Online," by Lewis Nitschinsk, Stephanie J. Tobin, Deanna Varley, and Eric J. Vanman (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2023).
  • "From Pagan Spirits to Wonder Woman: A Brief History of the Halloween Costume," by Marianna Cerini (CNN, 2020).
  • "The Real Name Fallacy," by J.Nathan Matias (Coral, 2017).
  • "Can Your Employees Really Speak Freely?" by James R. Detert and Ethan Burris (Harvard Business Review, 2016).
  • "'Mask Index' Helps Predict Election Day Outcome," by Adriana Diaz (CBS Evening News, 2016).
  • "Enclothed Cognition," by Hajo Adam and Adam D. Galinsky (Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2012).
  • "Effects of Deindividuation Variables on Stealing Among Halloween Trick-or-Treaters," by Edward Diener, Scott C. Fraser, Arthur L. Beaman, and Roger T. Kelem (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1976).
  • "The Human Choice: Individuation, Reason, and Order Versus Deindividuation, Impulse, and Chaos," by Philip G. Zimbardo (Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 1969).

• EXTRAS:
  • "What Is Evil?" by No Stupid Questions (2024).
  • "How to Maximize Your Halloween Candy Haul," by Freakonomics Radio (2012).