1. Collective
Behavior

2. Collective behavior activities involving large number of people
often spontaneous
typically in violation of established social norms
based on limited social interaction
no clear social boundaries
no common identity

3. Crowds Temporary Gathering of People Who Share Common Focus of Attention Members Influence One Another
HERBERT BLUMMER Identified 4 types, 5TH added later
CASUAL CROWD: ie: people on beach loose collection of people
CONVENTIONAL CROWD:ie: classroom meets for specific purpose
EXPRESSIVE CROWD: ie: concert/sports event emotional appeal event
ACTING CROWD:ie: fleeing a fire collectivity fueled by intense, single-minded purpose
PROTEST CROWD: ie: sit-in, march, strike, boycott

4. When Acting Crowds Turn Violent
Mob
Emotional crowd that pursues violent or destructive goal
Lynch mob
Riots
Social eruption that is highly emotional, violent & undirected
after Katrina

5. Theories of Crowd Behavior
Contagion theory
Convergence theory
Emergent-norm theory

6. Contagion Theory Gustave Le Bon’s
Crowds exert hypnotic influence over their members, people surrender to “collective mind”
members rid themselves of inhibitions and act out
crowd >life of its own
Critical evaluation
Not necessarily irrational
Specific individuals take leadership

7. Convergence theory
Motivations are brought to crowd by individual members, not vice versa
Crowds>convergence of like-minded people
Crowd doesn’t generate action, rather members stimulate action of crowd
ie: groups concerned about crime
Critical evaluation
People do things in crowd they would not do alone
Risky Shift Phenomenon
Crowds can intensify sentiment simply by creating critical mass of like-minded people

8. Emergent-norm theory Turner & Killian’s
People have mixed interests
In less stable crowds (expressive, acting, and protest), norms may be vague or changing
one does something and others jump on “bandwagon”
people make their own rules as they go along
Critical evaluation
Symbolic-interaction approach that points out that people take on different roles

9. Mass Behavior Rumor and gossip Public opinion Propaganda Panic
Collective behavior among people dispersed over wide geographical area
Types include
Rumor and gossip
Public opinion
Propaganda
Panic
Mass hysteria
Fads and fashions

10. Rumor and Gossip
Rumor – unsubstantiated information people spread informally, often by word of mouth
Thrives in climate of ambiguity
Unstable
Difficult to stop
Gossip – personal affairs of others
Concerns small circle of people
Rumors spread widely, gossip more localized
Used to praise or scorn someone
Used to raise one’s standing or keep in their place

11. Public Opinion & Propaganda
Public opinion – widespread attitudes about controversial issues
Any given issue from 2–10% of Americans report they hold no opinion
Is this due to ignorance or indifference?
Not everyone’s opinion carries same weight
Experts in field
Propaganda–information presented with intention of shaping public opinion
Thin line between info & propaganda
Not all propaganda is false

12. Panic & Mass Hysteria Panic Mass hysteria
Localized collective behavior by which people react to perceived threat or other stimulus with irrational, frantic, and often self-destructive behavior
Mass hysteria
Dispersed collective behavior by which people respond to real or imagined event often with irrational and even frantic fear

13. Fashions and Fads Fashions Fads
Social pattern favored at time by large # of people
Fashion characterizes all forms of art
Traditional style gives way to changing fashion
Can trickle down through less expensive copies
Conspicuous Consumption Veblen’s Theory people buy expensive products to show-off wealth
Fads
Unconventional social pattern people embrace briefly but enthusiastically
Sometimes called crazes