Brian Mullen reported in his research that the bigger the lynch mob, the more easily its members lose self-awareness and become willing to commit atrocities, such as burning, lacerating, or dismembering the victim. Individuals felt anonymous in the larger group. This exemplifies .a. pluralistic ignorance. b. group polarization. c. deindividuation. d. social loafing.

c. deindividuation.

Explanation:

In social psychology, deindividuation is a phenomenon of losing self-awareness when in a group. When under influence, it is easier for people to take certain action that they would not normally take when on their own. People feel less responsible for certain actions in a group, and believe that they are anonymous. As Mullen found in his research, members of a big group are capable of burning, lacerating and dismembering their victims.

Pluralistic ignorance is a situation in which members of a group privately disapprove of certain norms of a group, while they publicly support them.

Group polarization happens when group as a whole makes a decision that is more radical than what would have been decided by the members on their own.

Social loafing is a theory that people put less effort in a certain activity when they do it in a group than when they do it on their own.