Collective Behaviour
Collective behaviour is “non-institutionalized activity in which several people voluntarily engage”(p.840)
Forms of Collective Behaviour
- Localized
- Crowd
- Riot
- Panic
- Non-localized
- Moral panic
- Urban legends
- Rumour
- Fad
- Fashion
Types of Crowds
- Casual crowds
- Conventional crowds
- Expressive Crowds
- Acting Crowds
There’s this idea of Situations that are defined as real become real in their consequences.
5 kinds of crowd participants
- Ego-involved
- Concerned
- Insecure
- Curious spectators
- Exploiters
Collective Groups
Crowd
Mass: “large and dispersed number of people with a common interest”
Public: “unorganized, relatively diffused group of people who share ideas on an issue”
Is the crowd rational of irrational?
Old View: Crowds were seen as irrational. Herd mentality. Collective mind: people are swept up. Contagion takes over.
Modern View: The minimax strategy: we try to minimize our costs and maximize our rewards.
Turner and Killian (1993) Emergent Norm Theory: new definitions of right and wrong that emerge when something new has happened. New norms develop and seem rational