We’re back with another edition of Sugar Cereal — your weekly bite of psych science that makes human behavior just a little more fun (and useful).
In this week’s bowl, we're talking costumes, masks, and why people sometimes get a little too into character on Halloween.
Let’s eat! 🥣
brilliant disguise 🥸
We’ve all seen it.
That quiet coworker who goes full John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever at the office Halloween party. Or the shy kid who roars like a beast when they throw on a dinosaur mask.
And maybe you’re bolder, louder, or just a little bit goofier in costume than usual.
We could blame it on a sugar rush (or spiked punch), but it actually goes deeper: being anonymous makes us feel and act differently.
In a 1969 study, psychologist Philip Zimbardo (yep, the Stanford Prison Experiment guy) wanted to understand what happens when people feel unidentifiable. He split participants into two groups:
One wore their everyday clothes and name tags.
The other wore robes and hoods that completely concealed their identity.
Both groups were asked to (pretend to) deliver electric shocks to someone else.
The result? The anonymous, hooded group gave longer and more intense shocks.
Zimbardo called it deindividuation: a state where people feel less responsible for their actions because their individual identity is blurred.
Plain English: when you feel hidden, you're more likely to act on impulse…sometimes in playful ways, sometimes in reckless ones. 😈
Wanna take things beyond spooky season? Spot (and use) deindividuation all year round with these tips:
🕶 Need a confidence boost in a social setting?
Wearing a bold jacket, glasses, or even taking on a role (the planner, the question-asker, the hype person) can give you permission to act with more freedom.
🗣 Hosting a meeting or creative session?
Anonymous input (think: private brainstorming notes or feedback boxes) often produces more honest, less filtered ideas.
💬 Crushed by a keyboard warrior?
Remember: people behave differently when they feel invisible. Recognizing that helps keep things in perspective and helps you avoid taking things too personally.
Costumes open up a little psychological door. They give us permission to play, try on new roles, and color outside the lines for a bit.
Go forth and happy haunting! Just maybe leave the fake shock machine at home. 🙃
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