SOCPSY 1Z03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Gustave Le Bon, Collective Behavior, Deindividuation
14 Jan 2017
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Collective Behaviour
Collective Behaviour- is two or more persons engaged in behaviour judged common or
concerted on one or more dimensions
-dimensions:
•spatial
•temporal
•scale
Crowds
-cords are temporary gatherings of people in close physical proximity, engaging in a joint
activity
participants may engage in:
•one common activity (singing)
•concerted action (rescuing victims)
•a large variety of activities (milling around, looting)
-some argue that a “mental unity of the crowd” exists
•this unanimity leads participants to think, feel, and act in ways that are different than if
each member were alone
Classic Crowd Models: Contagion Theory
-Gustave Le Bon (1841-1931)
“the crowd: a study of the popular mind”
De-individuation
-crowds create anonymity and reduce perceptions of personal responsibility
•le bon: individual identity and self control disappears, giving way to primitive, barbaric state
Contagion
-tendency for people to imitate other people
•in dense crows, imitation of behaviours speeds quickly creating appearance of unanimous
mass
Contagion Theory: Historical Context
-theories are not developed in a historical vacuum
theories often shaped by ideological agendas
Le Bon developed his classical model of crowds in response to:
•rapid industrialization and urbanization
•french revolution
•growing fear of the working-class
-the crowd seen as a threat to existing social order
•principle interest was therefore to repress and control crowds
-Le Bons work influenced future dictators (Hitler)
Seven Myths about Crowds
1. irrationality
2. emotionality
3. suggestibility
4. destructiveness
5. spontaneity
6. anonymity
7. unanimity
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Collective behaviour- is two or more persons engaged in behaviour judged common or concerted on one or more dimensions. Cords are temporary gatherings of people in close physical proximity, engaging in a joint activity participants may engage in: one common activity (singing, concerted action (rescuing victims, a large variety of activities (milling around, looting) Some argue that a mental unity of the crowd exists: this unanimity leads participants to think, feel, and act in ways that are different than if each member were alone. The crowd: a study of the popular mind . Crowds create anonymity and reduce perceptions of personal responsibility: le bon: individual identity and self control disappears, giving way to primitive, barbaric state. Tendency for people to imitate other people: in dense crows, imitation of behaviours speeds quickly creating appearance of unanimous mass. Theories are not developed in a historical vacuum theories often shaped by ideological agendas.
