PSYC 2310 Lecture : March 1.docx

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2310
• Professor: Saba Safdar

Document Summary

The history of crowd: gustav le bon. Observed the masses during the french revolution. Argued that the crowd is about submerging in a very primitive mind: people lose their rationality and civilized characteristics. He argued that we are all spontaneous and irrational: all it takes for us to become destructive is to become part of a mass. Group mind: 3 characteristics are important to understand crowds. Anonymity: people in crowds don"t carry responsibility, they feel anonymous. Suggestibility: when people become anonymous, they become suggestible. This is similar to being hypnotised and they don"t think for themselves. Contagion: any suggestion is made contagious and more people engage in the suggestion. Described the crowd as a source of power. In order to control a crowd, the message needs to be simple, no evidence, repeated, exaggerated: alternative view: allport- highly critical of le bon and argued. The individual in the crowd behaves just as he would behave alone only more so.