13. Crowd behaviour I

Question 1

What are the three theories of crowd behaviour?

Answer 1

• Group mind (mob mentality)
• Group norms
• Self-categorization theory (modern idea)

Question 2

What is Group Mind theory?

(Theory 1)

Answer 2

• Mob mentality
• People in a crowd regress to an animalistic state
• Idea came about after French revolution
• In a crowd, the individual disappears and is replaced by the ‘racial unconscious’ (Gustave Le Bon, 1895)
• Crowd = “threat to civilisation”

Question 3

Problems with group mind

Answer 3

• Shaky evidence (uses secondary & selective evidence from French Revolution, focusing on violence out of context)
• Assumes crowds are violent (what about peaceful protests, or festivals)

Question 4

De-individuation theory

Answer 4

Modern version of group mind

• Standford prison experiment as supporting evidence

Question 5

Evidence against group mind and de-individuation theory

Answer 5

• Postmes & Spears’ (1998) meta-analysis showed weak evidence that anonymity leads to anti-normative behaviours
• However, there is a relationship between anonumity and conformity to group norms

Question 6

Group norms

Answer 6

• Reject group mind (‘mob mentality’)
• Norms are shared, internalised representations that come about through social interaction

Question 7

Evidence for Group Norms

Answer 7

• Individual judgements are adjusted to fit the group’s (Sherif, 1936) (‘autokinetic effect’ experiment)
• In novel situations, there is no guide to behaviour; through interaction, a norm emerges (and the crowd acts heroically or violently) (Turner and Killian, 1957)

Question 8

Do we need socal interaction to have collective behaviour?

Answer 8

No. We can show ingroup favouritism without ever meeting ingroup members

Evidence: the Minimal Group Paradigm (Tajfel et al.,1971)

Question 9

What is Self-categorisation theory?

(Theory 2)

Answer 9

John C. Turner (1982)

• Social identity is the mechanism through which crowd behaviour is possible
• Social identities consist of self-categories
• Self-cats can be very exclusive or inclusive

E.g. a person is within the category of psych student (exclusive), which is in the category of student, which is in the category of educated individuals (inclusive)

Question 10

When do categories become salient (Self-categorisation Theory)?

Answer 10

Formula: Fit x perceiver readiness

Fit

• Comparative fit (‘meta-contrast’): differences within the group are less than the difference between the group and another group
• Normative fit: do group members act the way we expect?

‘Perceiver readiness’ variables =

• Memory, knowledge, commitment…

Question 11

Evidence for self-categorisation

Answer 11

• A sudden event (terrorist attack) can combine people into a group (Drury et al., 2009) (London bombings, 7th July 2005)

Question 12

How is collective behaviour possible as a result of self-categorisation?

Answer 12

• People self-stereotype & act as they ‘should’, according to group norms
• This is called ‘depersonalisation’

Question 13

Crowd behaviour and riots

Answer 13

The St Pauls riot (Reicher, 1984)

• Police raided a local cafe (which was selling alcohol & drugs illegally)
• People in the area self-categorised as St Pauls residents: they had a poor relationship with the police, and they valued freedom
• As a result they violently resisted the raid

Why was this not ‘group mind’?
- The riot was focused on instititutions, but not homes or local shops (targeted violence, not mindless)
- The most influential people were ‘stereotypical’ members of St Pauls (older Rastafarians), showing that identity was important