Crowd Psychology

Crowd Psychology

Crowd psychology, also known as mob psychology, is a branch of social psychology that studies the unique behaviors and mental states of crowds.

 

 

Characteristics of Crowd Psychology

1. Suggestibility: Crowds tend to act easily on the suggestions of others.
2. Impulsiveness: Crowds often act impulsively or spontaneously.
3. Exaggeration and Simplicity: Emotions within a crowd become simplified and can be exaggerated or intensified.
4. Intolerance: Crowds are generally unwilling to accept opposing opinions from other individuals or groups.

 

Overview

Crowd psychology generally refers to the overall psychological mechanisms that drive behavior when many people gather together and the psychological states experienced by individuals in these crowds. The formation of a crowd, which is the foundation of crowd psychology, requires the following conditions:

1. Spatial Gathering: Members of a crowd gather temporarily in a specific location.
2. Common Interest: There is some common object or interest among the members of the crowd. The crowd disbands when this object or interest disappears.
3. No Organized Group: Even though there is a common interest, the people in the crowd do not form an organized group.

For example, a traffic accident scene is a typical instance of a crowd we encounter in daily life. People temporarily fill a specific space because of the shared interest in the accident. Once the police and ambulance arrive and the scene is cleared, the crowd disperses. People in such a crowd experience certain psychological characteristics of being in a crowd:

1. Loss of Individual Identity: Individuals in a crowd tend to forget their personal identities, such as their names, jobs, or personalities, and become anonymous. This makes them more likely to conform to the actions of others in the crowd.
2. Freedom from Norms: People in a crowd feel liberated from everyday social norms and are more likely to express their desires and emotions freely.
3. Lack of Responsibility: Individuals in a crowd are often irresponsible and uncritical of their actions. They might feel that whatever they do, no one will notice because they are just one part of the larger crowd.

 

Modern Society and Crowd Psychology

 

Since the late 19th century, when theories on crowds and crowd psychology were established by figures such as Le Bon, Tarde, and Sighele, rapid social changes have significantly altered the nature of crowd psychology.

1. Larger Crowds: Modern crowds are much larger than they were when crowd psychology theories were first developed, mainly due to the growth of cities. The state of being in a crowd is now more continuous, such as in overcrowded buses.
2. Blurred Lines: The distinction between mass movements and crowd behavior has become blurred since Le Bon's time. For example, disturbances at sports events and riots are now often analyzed from the perspective of crowd behavior and psychology, reducing complex social phenomena to psychological issues and neglecting the underlying social contexts.
3. Impact of Mass Communication: Conditions for forming a crowd have greatly changed due to advances in mass communication. For example, during the radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds," more than a million individuals were swept into a panic across a vast area. Thus, crowd members do not necessarily have to be physically gathered in the same place.
4. Concept of Public vs. Crowd: Tarde introduced the concept of the "public," distinct from the crowd, as the foundation of democratic politics. However, in modern society, this concept has become irrelevant, and the "mass" concept has taken its place. The "mass" is essentially a widespread state of crowds permeating the entire society.

In this sense, modern society can be described as a mass society composed of anonymous, conformist, irresponsible, and uncritical individuals. In such a crowd society, rational judgment and dialogue-based democratic politics do not exist. The opinions reflected through elections in such a society are irresponsible and uncritical reflections of crowd psychology.