SOCPSY 2YY3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Gustave Le Bon, Mass Hysteria, Social Dilemma
1 Dec 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
From individual behaviour to the behaviour of people in groups. How people may change their behaviour when in groups. Collective behaviour: the action or behaviour of people in groups or crowds, usually as a reaction to an event or to express a common sentiment. Early research took a negative view on crowds: people lose their sense of rationality; emotional, unorganized events where people behave in inexplicable way; crowds don"t follow rules/guidelines. Challenged the pervasive view and promoted the idea that crowds are systems - behave in ways that other social systems behave in. Led teams of observers to several env"ts where crowds would form. Found that similar patterns emerge no matter what the crowd is. Crowds now seen as collective action instead of collective behaviour - there is a purpose for them to come together; people are agents. How do the motivations that individuals bring into group settings interact w/ the motivations of the group.
