Final answer:
Individuals may act differently in the presence of a group due to psychological phenomena such as deindividuation, groupthink, and the bystander effect, which affect personal accountability, decision-making, and actions during emergencies.
Step-by-step explanation:
The presence of a group can cause individuals to act differently due to several psychological phenomena such as deindividuation, groupthink, and the bystander effect. Deindividuation leads to diminished accountability and reduces individuality when someone is part of a larger group, which can affect their behavior. Another concept, groupthink, describes the pressure to conform to what is perceived as the group consensus, often resulting in more extreme decisions that one would not make alone. Lastly, the bystander effect highlights a situation where people are less likely to offer help or intervene in an emergency if others are present, due to a diffusion of responsibility.
Social psychologists study these dynamics to understand how the presence of others affects individual behavior in different contexts, whether in small groups where relationships and actions are more visible or in large groups where anonymity and free riding may change individual actions and group outcomes significantly.