Atrocity as a Function of Lynch Mob Composition

Abstract

An archival analysis was conducted to determine whether the atrocities committed by lynch mobs could be accounted for in terms of self-attention processes. In all, 60 newspaper reports of lynching events were coded for information regarding group composition and atrocity. Group composition was operationalized in terms of the Other-Total Ratio (that is, Other-Total Ratio = Number of Victims/[Number of Victims + Number of Lynchers]), an algorithm previously established to predict the effects of group composition on self-attention processes. Atrocity was operationalized in terms of a composite index, representing the occurrence or nonoccurrence of hanging, shooting, burning, lacerating, or dismembering of the victim, as well as the duration of the lynching. The self-attention theory Other-Total Ratio was found to be significantly negatively related to lynch mob atrocity. It was suggested that, as the lynchers became more numerous relative to the victims, the lynchers became less self-attentive, or more deindividuated, leading to a breakdown in normal self-regulation processes, which in turn led to an increase in the transgressive behaviors represented by the composite index of atrocity.