Science & Tech
collective behaviour
psychology
Haiti earthquake of 2010: search and rescue
Category:
Science & Tech
- Key People:
- Leon Festinger
- Neil Smelser
- Related Topics:
- conformity
- collective violence
- diffusion of innovations
- meme
- free riding
collective behaviour, the kinds of activities engaged in by sizable but loosely organized groups of people. Episodes of collective behaviour tend to be quite spontaneous, resulting from an experience shared by the members of the group that engenders a sense of common interest and identity. The informality of the group’s structure is the main source of the frequent unpredictability of collective behaviour. Included in collective behaviour are the activities of people in crowds, panics, fads, fashions, crazes, publics, cults, and followings as well as more organized phenomena, such as reform and revolutionary social movements. Because it emphasizes groups, the study ...(100 of 9536 words)