PsyBlog - 7 Myths of Crowd Psychology

This appeared at PsyBlog last week and I thought it was kind of interesting. Many of us have been exposed to some of these myths at one point or another. This is an old post, but it's interesting.

7 Myths of Crowd Psychology

"The mass, whether it be a crowd or an army, is vile."
~Benito Mussolini

How do you imagine an archetypal crowd of people - say at a concert, a sporting event or a demonstration?

If you picture an irrational, spontaneous, suggestible, emotional and even potentially dangerous group then you are in good company.

Sociologists David Schweingruber and Ronald Wohlstein have found this view of crowds is promoted by many authors of introductory sociology textbooks. Indeed the idea that crowds demonstrate bizarre, almost pathological behaviour was championed by eminent French sociologist Gustave LeBon.

Despite these beliefs both in sociology textbooks and in the general public, the actual evidence does not support it. Crowds are not the many-armed destructive monsters of the popular or even fascist imagination.

Here are the seven myths about crowds that Schweingruber and Wohlstein identify, in order of how frequently they appear in introductory sociology textbooks.

1. Crowds are spontaneous
2. Crowds are suggestible
3. Crowds are irrational
4. Crowds increase anonymity
5. Crowds are emotional
6. Crowds are unanimous
7. Crowds are destructive

You'll have to go to the site to find out why each of these is a myth.

Tags: PsyBlog, 7 Myths of Crowd Psychology, sociology, culture, Psychology, Schweingruber, Wohlstein, David Schweingruber, Ronald Wohlstein