Crowd psychology

Content

What is crowd psychology?..........................................................................................................

What is a crowd?...................................................................................................................

How does an individual impact a crowd?..................................................................................................................

Why do people join a crowd?...................................................................................................................

Not all crowds are bad........................................................................................................................

Gustave Le Bon........................................................................................................................

Crowd psychology in life....................................................................................

WHAT IS CROWD PSYCHOLOGY?

Crowd psychology is the broad study of how individual behavior is impacted when large crowds group together.

Crowd psychology, also known as mob psychology, is a branch of social psychology. Social psychologists have developed several theories for explaining the ways in which the psychology of a crowd differs from and interacts with that of the individuals within it.

WHAT IS A CROWD?

Dictionary

crowd
/kraʊd/

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noun

a large number of people gathered together in a disorganized or unruly way.
"a huge crowd gathered in the street outside"

A crowd is a group of individuals united by a common idea, belief or ideology. When an individual becomes a part of a crowd he undergoes a psychological transformation. He is no longer himself but has become a "robot" that stopped being guided by his own will. That individual sacrifeses his goals fot the benifit of the crowd. There are many psyhological and emotional elements one gets from joining a crowd. An individual that joins a crowd loses his sense of powerlessness and insignificance.

He feels powerfull and rather invincible because he knows he is not alone. A crowd is guided by an idea , that idea is the foundation of the crowd and its actions. And as always actions of a crowd can be either good or bad.

HOW DOES AN INDIVIDUAL IMPACT A CROWD?

One person is enough to start something and the others just need to follow them. That person is a leader and he presents the crowd an idea, fills their head with “features” and good things about it but not the use of it. When you're in a crowd it is easier to do something, you know someone is right beside you.

How do you influence a crowd?
Crowds want clear and simple "truths".
...
The main techniques to persuade a crowd are:
1. affirmation.
2. repetition.
3. contagion.
4. exaggeration.
5. symbols.
6. ill-defined words.
7. not reasoning or logic.

WHY DO PEOPLE JOIN A CROWD?

1. Anonymity
The anonymity you get from a crowd is always comforting. The sentiment of responsibility and the fear of concequences disappears entirely when in a crowd because of the anonymity.

2. Contagion
Every sentiment and act in a crowd is contagious. It even becomes so contagious that an individual sacrifices his personal interest and personal goals for the crowd’s interest. Isolated, individuals would never do something irrational but an entirely irrational act can become contagius in a crowd.

3. Suggestibility
A special state that resembles a fascination state in which the hypnotized individual finds himself in the hands of the hypnotist.

NOT ALL CROWDS ARE BAD

Yes without a doubt most crowds are often immoral but a crowd may not always be irrational, violant or crimnal. It can also be heroic and filled with enthusiasm for honour and glory.

Gustave Le Bon

(1841.-1931.)

French social psychologist best known for his study of the psychological characteristics of crowds. He is considered to be the founder of the crowd psychology. His most popular work is The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind.

In the book, Le Bon claims that there are several characteristics of crowd psychology: "impulsiveness, irritability, incapacity to reason, the absence of judgement of the critical spirit, the exaggeration of sentiments, and others..." Le Bon claimed that "an individual immersed for some length of time in a crowd soon finds himself – either in consequence of magnetic influence given out by the crowd or from some other cause of which we are ignorant.

CROWD PSYCHOLOGY IN LIFE

Crowds are very common to be seen in sporting events, musical events and concerts, amusement parks...

Some crowds that go to sporting events like to cause trouble, an example is football hooligans. They go to
football games and fight with other fans, police and destroy cars and shops.

Here is what an English soccer hooligan said:
“In a soccer gang you are in a group with twenty or thirty other people, you see the fans of another team, you just hate them, it only takes one person to start fighting, then you decide to start fighting too. You aren’t an individual, you are a part of a crowd, you do what other people are doing.”