Crowd Behaviour 2

Question 1

Transformations NOT:

Answer 1

• Loss of self/deindividuation
  
  • Loss of self-control
  • ‘Mob mentality’

Question 2

Three transformations of crowd psychology:

Answer 2

1. Cognitive
   
   2. Relational
   3. Affective

Question 3

Cognitive transformation or self-stereotyping:

Answer 3

• Shift from seeing myself in terms of my personal identity to seeing myself in terms of my social identity
  
  • I am a student
  • I am an Arsenal fan
  • I am a catholic
  • I am a member of the St Paul’s community

Question 4

Cognitive transformation:

Answer 4

· Individuals no longer think and act on basis of personal (and idiosyncratic) beliefs and values
· Instead, they think and act on their understandings of the category/group’s norms, values, beliefs, and interests.

Question 5

Cognitive transformation 2:

Answer 5

· Collective behaviour in the St Pauls riot was limited and patterned in line with the social identity (‘we as St Pauls residents’) shared by participants:
- Police were targets
- Banks, chain store; not local shops or houses (Reicher, 1984)

Question 6

Relational transformation:

Answer 6

· If you also have the same social identity as me…
· Instead of seeing you as ‘other’, I see you as part of ‘we’, ‘us’
- i.e., we share social identity

Question 7

Relational transformation 2:

Answer 7

· Shared identity can result in a sense of connection and intimacy - even with strangers.
- More acceptance/enjoyment of others’ close physical presence (Novelli et al, 2010)
- Reduced disgust at others’ bodily odours (Reicher et al, 2016)
- Trust, feeling safe
- Giving and expecting social support

Question 8

Affective transformation:

Answer 8

· Social identity as the prism through which people appraise physical stimuli and experience relational intimacy
· In addition:
- Being supported by others feels good
- Support from others for desired goals is empowering which also feels good
- Validation of emotions by others in the group - makes them more intense

Question 9

Mass gatherings:

Answer 9

· An occasion, either organised or spontaneous where the “number of people attending is sufficient to strain the planning and response resources of the community, city, or notion hosting the event” (World Health Organisation, 2008)
· E.g., olympics, world cup, glastonbury, Hajj

Question 10

Hajj:

Answer 10

· One of the 5 pillars of Islam
· 2-3 million people at a time
· Global gathering
· Six days of rituals in around Mecca

Question 11

‘Mass gatherings medicine’:

Answer 11

· Infectious diseases
· Crowd crushes

Question 12

Mass gatherings - crowd crushes:

Answer 12

· Stampedes?:
- Most things called ‘stampedes’ in the media do not involve running
- Deaths often caused by crowd collapse in extreme density
· Panic?:
- Fear is a consequence rather than a cause of crushes

Question 13

Hajj 2:

Answer 13

· Despite extreme levels of density every year, crushing accidents are extremely rate at Hajj

Question 14

Wellbeing from attending a mass gathering - an example:

Answer 14

· Magh Mela - Hindu festival takes place in India for a month every year
· An aversive crowd experience?
· 20 million people in a ‘tent city’
· Densely populated
· Sanitary conditions and facilities are extremely poor
· Constant loud noise

Question 15

Wellbeing from attending a mass gathering - an example 2:

Answer 15

· How do music activities affect health and wellbeing?:
- Dingle et al 2021 - scoping review of 63 studies examining psychological mechanisms
- Some mechanisms - memory and attention, mood and emotion regulation, social bonding and connection
- Key point - effects of both music itself and enjoying the music with others

Question 16

Features of relational and affective transformation in mass gatherings that might contribute to health and wellbeing:

Answer 16

· Expecting/ receiving support
· Positive emotions
· Validation
· Sense of empowerment

Question 17

Relational transformation at the Mela:

Answer 17

· Hopkins et al. (2019)
- Semi-structured interviews at the 2010 Mela
- 37 Kalpwasis (pilgrims): 24 men, 13 women, age range 40–83 years, M age = 63.
- 29 were high caste and 8 low caste - correspond to the caste distribution at the event
- In Hindi or local dialects
- 30-80 minutes
- Thematic analysis

Question 18

Relational transformation at the Mela - shared social identity:

Answer 18

· ‘In the railway station every person has a different purpose, going to different places, going to another country, going to separate stations. But here there is only one purpose, one dharma [a religious way of life characterised by virtue and duty] is to be performed, that is why the crowd here and outside are different [···] There everyone has separate purposes but here the purpose becomes only one!’

Question 19

Relational transformation at the Mela - recognition:

Answer 19

· P18F60: Here, this is not there like “no, this is mine, this is yours”. At home, even if there is a minor issue, clashes takes place don’t they? Now, here at the bank of [the] Ganga, you know how much of a crowd is there, but still nothing ever happens with anyone.
· Interviewer: No clashes?
· P18F60: Even if you get wet it feels that “that person is also here for bathing”. This love increases. By seeing everyone it feels that, like the reason we have [come], they have also come.

Question 20

Relational transformation at the Mela - validation:

Answer 20

· P5M55: Where is the crowd a hurdle? The crowd is not a hurdle and more people are coming. It is a good thing. Like more and more people are joining in for something which I have come for. More and more numbers of people are coming in devotion. This is a good thing. Why would it be a hurdle?
· Interviewer: Meaning if there is a bigger crowd, you would feel good?
· P5M55: Yes, it will [unclear] the thing in which I have faith, here, if more and more people gather, it is a good thing.

Question 21

Relational transformation at the Mela - solidarity - support:

Answer 21

· ‘At the railway station people are not helping each other, [they] fulfil their own aim. When the train arrives, immediately, if they have a reservation, people will board. Suppose it is the General class [a basic level of rail travel], someone is taking their own luggage and facing problems, they [other passengers] will not care. And here [in the Mela], people take much care of this thing!’

Question 22

Solidarity at the 7th July 2005 London bombings:

Answer 22

· 4 bombs (three trains, one bus)
· Rush hour
· 56 people died
· 700+ injuries
- Emergency services didn’t reach all the survivors immediately – the crowd was left in the dark for up to 20 minutes or more

Question 23

Support - versus personal ‘selfishness’:

Answer 23

· Support - giving reassurance, sharing water, pulling people from the wreckage, supporting people up as they evacuated, tying tourniquets

Question 24

Affective transformation 2:

Answer 24

· Crowd events (often) seem to be very passionate - strong feelings, joy, anger, strong group loyalty…
· Some commentators say this emotion is a form of madness or irrationality

Question 25

Affective transformation 3:

Answer 25

· Both Durkheim and social identity researchers argue that strong positive emotions are linked to socially/ collectively meaningful activities
· Validation and emotion
· Empowerment and emotion

Question 26

Validation and emotion:

Answer 26

· Neville & Reicher (2011)
· Interviews with 23 Dundee United supporters
· When participants felt that co-present others shared their social identity, they:
- Reported experiencing a validation of their and emotions, which augmented the strength of them
- P13: I mean once you saw other people being enthusiastic it made me want to be more enthusiastic, and then I’m sure every other person then became more enthusiastic. It just increased it I felt like. [Extract 18]

Question 27

Empowerment and emotion - identity-realisation at the Mela:

Answer 27

· Survey of pilgrims (N=416)
· Participants’ perceptions of a shared identity amongst crowd members increased participants’ sense that they were able to enact their collective identity
- E.g., carry out rituals and spiritual acts that they cants usually in everyday life
- Associated with joy

Question 28

Long-term psychological changes and mass gatherings:

Answer 28

· Clingingsmith et al. (2009)
- Premise: Pakistan’s lottery for attending the Hajj
- Survey ran 5-8 months after Hajj
- Random selection of winners and losers
- Broadly representative (though the better off slightly over-represented)
- N = 1,605

Question 29

Clingingsmith et al, 2009 - 2:

Answer 29

· Those who attended Hajj:
- Greater commitment to their Muslim identity afterwards
- More positive towards other groups
- More favourable attitudes to women
- Greater belief in equality
· Compared to matched sample

Question 30

Clingingsmith et al, 2009 - but what was the process?:

Answer 30

· No measures taken of mechanisms
· Speculation that contact was responsible

Question 31

Khan et al, 2016 - Mela:

Answer 31

· Kalpwasis provided data at three time points (T1, T2, T3) and Controls at two (T1, T3).
· Comparing attendees with matched sample afterwards:
- Heightened social identification as a Hindu
- Increased frequency of prayer rituals
· Mechanisms:
- Perceptions of sharing a common identity with other pilgrims
- Being able to enact one’s social identity

Question 32

Alnabulsi et al (2019):

Answer 32

· Survey of 1194 pilgrims
· Languages groups: 420 were Arabic speakers, 150 of Malay, 150 of Urdu, 120 of French, 120 of Persian, 120 of Turkish, and 114 of English.
· Participants from 72 countries
· 64.5% of the participants were male and 35.5% were female.
· Sampled during the Hajj

Question 33

Transformations and mass gatherings health - two caveats:

Answer 33

· Positive effects such as support are not found in every crowds
- Not shopping crowds for example
· High levels of trust and enjoying proximity are also strongly associated with risk of spreading infectious diseases