Deindividuation is the loss of self-awareness in groups. Deindividuation can be heightened, as in the case of the Stanford Prison Experiment, by the manipulation of an environment. Manipulation can take place in a variety of ways: being made to dress alike, being identified by an assigned number, and other conditions which increase a person’s anonymity all contribute to deindividuation. Deindividuation can influence people to engage in deviant and sometimes violent acts because they believe they cannot be identified.

Dehumanization is the behavior or process of depriving a person or group of their humanity. Dehumanization takes place when the ‘in’ group removes the human qualities of the ‘outer’ group and no longer associates the ‘outer’ group with human qualities. The consequence of dehumanization is a psychological mindset which permits abusive treatment of the dehumanized group by the dehumanizing group. Dehumanization often has racial or religious elements; the dehumanized group is often depicted as animalistic, which often leads to abusive treatment.

Dispositionalism is a preference for dispositional, or individual attribution, rather than situational attribution. Dispositional attribution explains human behavior at the individual level and attributes internal characteristics rather than external forces, such as environment or culture. 

Situationalism is a preference for situational attribution, governed by immediate situations and external factors, such as environment or culture. Situational ethics accounts for the context of an act rather than judging it by absolute moral standards.