Crowd, types of crowd. Panic.

The "Okhlos" request is redirected here. A separate article is needed on this topic.

This term has other meanings, see Crowd (meanings).

Crowd in China

Crowd

- a large crowd of people.

The crowd is chaotic, although not without some organization. The organizing factor can be a common object of attention, tradition, event. Crowd members are often in a similar emotional state. A crowd is described by a number of parameters and characteristics, such as the number of people gathered, direction and speed of movement, psychological state and others. The crowd is the subject of research in social psychology, which in particular introduces classifications of the crowd according to a number of characteristics. In some cases, a crowd can pose a danger to others (for example, rioters) and to itself (in case of panic). Crowds play a significant role in history.

V. G. Belinsky wrote: “A crowd is a collection of people living according to legend and reasoning according to authority.”

general characteristics

Before moving on to the types of crowds, you should understand the definition. There are two options, and both are correct, it’s just that each of them fits a particular case. So the crowd is:

• An initially unorganized collection of people that does not have a common conscious goal.
• A collection of people that has lost its organization and has lost its common goal.

In both cases, everyone in the crowd is in a state of maximum emotional arousal. Such clusters are formed in conditions of natural disasters, which include man-made disasters, earthquakes, fires, and floods. Even during military exercises, mass spectacles, celebrations, protests (demonstrations, processions, rallies, strikes). There are also traffic crowds.

Their types are determined taking into account factors, which include the emotional arousal of people and the degree of activity they exhibit. And now we can move on to the typology.

Crowd Formation

In the process of creating a large group from small groups of individuals who are dissatisfied with something, the chance of creating spontaneous behavior increases significantly. This is aimed at showing the emotions and judgments experienced. Often the subject of such behavior is the crowd.

Involved in crowd formation:

public. This is a large community that arises on the basis of common goals, without a specific organization, but in conditions affecting common interests. Rationality of discussion is allowed here; a contact, seemingly disorganized society that acts very emotionally; a collection of individuals who make up an amorphous group with a large number of participants. The latter do not have direct contacts with each other, but they are connected by a common interest. This includes mass hysteria, false patriotic or patriotic ecstasy.

In the large-scale form of collective action, unconsciousness takes on serious significance. Based on emotional excitement, spontaneous actions appear due to events that affect the values ​​of individuals. The main factors in the formation of a crowd and its development are rumors and chain reactions.

There are stages to creating a crowd:

creating a kernel. The appearance of a crowd rarely goes beyond the causal connections of social events. But the crowd is formed more often from a certain core, i.e. from the instigators; whirling process. The next stage goes along with the whirling process. In the process, feelings become heightened, and a readiness to respond to data coming from outside appears. Excitement is growing, people are ready for immediate collective action; the emergence of a new joint object of attention. The second stage prepares the next one. It manifests itself in the emergence of a common object, which becomes the center of attention. The feelings and imagination of the crowd are concentrated on it; excitation. The final stage is the activation of individuals with auxiliary stimuli by exciting impulses. This happens because of the actions of leaders.

Active crowd

Characterized by increased aggressiveness, a tendency to cruelty, violence, and destructive actions. Also considered active are the fleeing crowds, which easily turn into acquisitive and panicky ones.

This is a general definition. An active crowd is also considered to be any gathering of people that manifests itself in action. For example, football fans who riot after a match. The case of the White House defense in 1993 can also be considered indicative - then people gathered in an active crowd not to express their feelings or observe the event, but to take part in the action itself.

Famous Crowds

The list of examples in this article or its section is not based on authoritative sources directly about the subject of the article or its section. Add links to sources that cover the topic of this article (or section) as a whole, containing these list items as examples. Otherwise, the section may be deleted. This mark was set on July 18, 2014 .

"Bloody Sunday" (1905)

• Copper Riot
• Khodynka
• Stampede on Trubnaya Square during the funeral of Joseph Stalin

Crowd at Wikimedia Commons

Acting crowd

This type is the most important in socio-political terms. Accordingly, of all types of crowds, it is the most deeply and closely studied. It is important to note that this type has so-called branches. It is divided into aggressive, panicky, acquisitive and rebellious crowds. The first two will be discussed separately, so now it is worth noting the other 2 types.

• Money-grubbing crowd. It is formed by people who are obsessed with the idea of ​​regaining some valuables or obtaining them. Crowds of this type are extremely heterogeneous. They can be formed by pogromists, depositors of bankrupt banks, and looters. In any case, all participants fight for the possession of values.
• Rebellious crowd of people. It is also called rebel. If the crowd's actions are successful, it becomes “revolutionary.” Instead of success comes failure? Then the crowd ceases to be considered even rebellious. It becomes a “gathering of putschists” or a “random rabble.”

Aggressive type

This type of crowd needs to be discussed separately. In an aggressive crowd, the level of emotional arousal, as well as external and internal activity, constantly increases. Mental stress gradually manifests itself, which is based on feelings of anger, despair, frustration, and misunderstanding. The crowd moves from an active state to an aggressive one due to the appearance of a so-called exciting stimulus. It is he who provokes the emergence of general indignation and indignation.

But the main thing that distinguishes an aggressive crowd is its destructive behavior. Crowds of people who are united by a feeling of fear, which is usually caused by danger to life, are divided into panic and those fleeing. Their behavior becomes destructive - the level of awareness of the actions being performed falls, the critical attitude to the situation disappears, and the experience of fear becomes more acute.

And panicked crowds are more dangerous than those fleeing. Because their behavior poses a greater threat to people. In a panicked crowd, the organization is completely lost, and its participants begin to behave unconsciously, mechanically, and inappropriately. They are completely consumed by fear. A fleeing crowd, which is more predictable, can be subordinated to the organization, since its participants retain the ability to regulate their behavior and be aware of what is happening for some time.

Crowd classification

As in other social phenomena, there is a classification of the crowd according to different motives. If we take controllability as a basis, then the following types of crowds are distinguished:

spontaneous. Created and expressed without organization by the leader; Slave. Appears and is expressed under the influence initially or as a result of the actions of a certain leader; organized. This type is considered in the form of a collection of people who have joined an organization.

If we take as a basis the nature of the actions of people in a crowd, the following types are distinguished:

occasional. Appears on the basis of interest in sudden events; conventional. Based on interest in the announced entertainment. Temporarily adheres to unclear norms; expressive. It is created under the same conditions as the conventional one. It shows the general opinion about a certain event; ecstatic. This is the ultimate manifestation of an expressive crowd. Characterized by general ecstasy; valid. It is created similarly to the conventional one, but produces actions aimed at a specific object.

The latter variety has several subspecies:

aggressive. United by hatred of one object, capable of pogroms and other aggressive actions; panicky. Fleeing from an imagined or true source of danger; acquisitive. Becomes participants in the conflict in order to possess certain values. They provoke the authorities by ignoring the interests of the people; rebel Formed on the basis of general dissatisfaction with the work of government bodies.

Expressive type

The name itself defines the characteristics of this type of crowd. Expression is a vivid manifestation of thoughts, moods and feelings. And also temperament. What is an expressive crowd? A group of people that rhythmically expresses a certain emotion. It could be anything - indignation, joy, anger, enthusiasm.

A striking example is people chanting a slogan at a rally. Or football fans, their entire crowd cheering for their favorite team. In some cases, the rhythmic expression of emotions takes on an intense form, resulting in the phenomenon of mass ecstasy.

In terms of characteristics and education, the expressive crowd of people is similar to the active one. Its participants also lose self-awareness, they also begin to come into contact with mindless and fast-acting responsiveness.

But there is a fundamental difference. The fact is that participants in an expressive crowd do not develop an image of a particular goal. Accordingly, suggestion does not lead to the creation of an action plan and its implementation directly. It can be expressed in simple language. An expressive crowd does not act - it simply succumbs to excited movements. In such cases, the external expression of feelings is an end in itself.

Psychological properties of the crowd

Experts highlight some psychological properties of the crowd, which relate to the entire structure of this formation. They are visible in different areas:

strong-willed; emotional; cognitive; moral.

A serious feature of the crowd is lack of accountability and instinctiveness. If individual people often almost do not give in to reasonable messages, guided by emotional impulses, then the crowd has no reason at all, but exists on emotions, without the presence of logic. The herd instinct is at work here, especially in an emergency situation without a leader.

The crowd has a powerfully developed imagination. She perceives images. Those that strike the imagination are clear and simple. Another serious effect is collective hallucinations, i.e. misunderstanding and interpretation of events. The mass of people do not think about events; they are not capable of reasoning. Contradictions and disputes are not possible here. The crowd doesn't need the truth.

Suggestibility is another feature of the crowd. This is a human mass that is under hypnosis. The source of suggestions are illusions that are born in an individual. The crowd is simply instilled with a feeling of adoration and fanaticism.

Contagion causes the formation of special properties of the crowd; it establishes its direction. A person loves to imitate something. Opinions in a crowd are transmitted by contagion.

There is an emotional amplification in the crowd. The people who participate in it are not just neighbors. They infect others, and also internalize the emotions of others themselves. An emotional explosion occurs due to certain conditions.

The power of the crowd is directed towards destruction. Such instincts sleep in the depths of consciousness of all individuals. It is dangerous for individuals to succumb to such things, but in a crowd they freely follow them.

Conventional crowd

It consists of people who gathered in a certain place at a specific time for a reason, but with a predetermined purpose. Examples of this phenomenon surround us everywhere. Take, for example, spectators of a theater performance, listeners of a symphony concert, or football fans.

The peculiarity of this type of cluster is that its participants comply with the rules and generally accepted norms governing their behavior. This makes the crowd predictable and orderly. You could even say that such a gathering of people is close to the public. This concept also means a set of persons who are the object of the influence of something - education, literature, events, advertising, art, actions (performances), etc.

Occasional type

In this case, the name also determines the characteristics of the crowd. The word "occasion" from English means "accident". That is, an occasional crowd is a gathering of people who have gathered to watch an unexpected incident. An absolutely ordinary situation from the social sphere, which each of us has witnessed at least once in our lives.

If a UFO lands on the square of a city, then probably in about 15 minutes there will be no crowd to get through to it. A whole cloud of onlookers will instantly form around him. What are they? These are separate individuals who, by chance, find themselves connected by one center of attention.

How quickly a crowd forms, as well as its size, depends on the informational value and unusualness of the incident. Let's say a kitten is stuck in a tree - it is unlikely that at least a hundred people will gather to watch how they will get it out of there. What if suddenly someone puts a suitcase with a million rubles in the middle of the street and says that in 10 minutes he will give it to the person he likes the most? People will probably run away from work for this.

Ecstatic type

It is impossible not to mention him. An ecstatic crowd is a gathering of people who work themselves into a frenzy through communal ritual or prayer activities. This concept comes from the word “ecstasy”.

History knows a striking example. We are talking about the dances of St. Vitus - a holiday that arose during the era of the medieval plague. People were tired of what was happening and wanted to forget this nightmare so much that they went crazy and danced to death. And in the literal sense of the word.

What is a crowd

This article is based on the works of Russian cultural anthropologist and expert in the field of psychology of mass behavior Nazaretyan Akop Pogosovich. Briefly and in everyday language, we will consider the basic concepts, causes and structure of the crowd. And also the dangers that it conceals and the methods that organizers/provocateurs/special services/social psychologists resort to to manipulate it.

What is a crowd? A crowd is mistakenly called a large gathering of people. This is wrong. Students sitting in an audience, a work collective at a meeting, a company of soldiers - this is all a crowd of people in one place at one time, but this is not a crowd, but a group. What makes them different? Students, workers, soldiers are united by one organizational structure. In this structure, each person has his place and responsibilities. Everyone is a cog in the system. A crowd is a collection of people who are not connected by a common organization and do not have a common goal, but are united by one center of attention and one emotional state. Everyone is a drop in the human river. Example: each of the knights is a magnificent warrior, capable of easily defeating dozens of peasants. But when they tried to unite the knights into one army, they turned into a crowd. None of them knew how (or wanted) to stand in line - everyone was for himself. While simple uneducated peasants won victories with simple tactical maneuvers.

In this rough example, the knights are the crowd, the peasants are the organized structure.

One philosopher said that in man there is a particle from God and a particle from the beast. When a person is alone with an equal (in this context, outside a large crowd of people), his heavenly and earthly principles balance each other and he sees reality (that is, think sensibly from different positions, compare points of view, rely on knowledge and personal experience). And when there are too many people around, animal particles resonate with each other and unite everyone into one organism. To the herd. Nazaretyan's research showed that a person in a crowd loses signs of individuality. He stops thinking and assessing situations/actions in the first person. “I” disappears and is replaced by “WE”. The sense of responsibility and fear disappears, the boundaries of morality and rules are erased. There are known cases when an angry crowd staged pogroms and public executions of even innocent/bystanders who stood out from this organism or who somehow attracted attention to themselves. The mind is clouded by primitive emotions and instincts. In such an emotional environment, it is not a surprise to see a respected intellectual pulling a new vacuum cleaner out of a destroyed supermarket. He is no longer a person, he is an element of an excited blind swarm. The crowd is dangerous because it erases the individual, first of all.

The content of the article

What is emotional contagion?

Imagine: the day didn’t go well from the very beginning: you overslept, doused yourself with hot coffee, the car broke down, your boss scolded you, you were rude on the subway... With the mood to strangle the first person who dares to look you in the eye, you enter home and see your sweetly smiling wife. On the table is your favorite dish prepared especially for your arrival... Lighter?

This is an amazing mechanism conceived by nature itself. During communication, only a third of the information transmitted is words. The remaining two are emotions. We adopt the spiritual state of the interlocutor/those around us for a more subtle understanding of them. To some extent, we are all empaths. But this same ability can also play against us. A crowd (especially one driven or fueled by a leader/provocateur) is a powerful psycho-emotional source. Any passive onlooker is immediately sucked into this “spiritual funnel.” Try to conduct an experiment on yourself: at a lively concert/performance, in a moment of general rejoicing, when the hall explodes with applause, sit quietly and not express your emotions in any way. Even if you manage to restrain the first impulse of your palms towards each other, you will feel very bad. All attention will be spent on maintaining “shields” and convincing the body: “I don’t stand out, no one looks at me, I’m not suspicious...”, etc. If you do not behave the same way as those around you, then you are no longer part of the herd. Being “not part of the herd” in a herd is potentially dangerous for the animal. And the animal part understands this perfectly.

Conclusion: if you find yourself in an emotionally charged environment, you will be infected on a subconscious level with the same feelings as others. Avoid the crowds! The crowd will destroy your “I” and you will cease to belong to yourself!

Crowd types

Occasional (random) crowd

“Oh, look, there’s a moose in the tree!” — a cloud of onlookers instantly forms around. A random crowd is essentially random people, randomly connected by a single focal point. The speed of formation and size depend on the moral and informational parameters of a particular people - whether they are ready to see it or not. If an elk passes by on the farm - “Well, elk, hidden elk. So what’s wrong?”, and there will be a stir in the center of Moscow. Nowadays, seeing a hologram on the street is fantastic, but expected. In the times of the Soviet Union, people would have formed a queue within three months to touch a miracle... As a rule, it is easy to form, easy to disintegrate, but depends on the scale of the event, the curiosity and shamelessness of the people. Aliens can cause panic, and a poodle on a bicycle, at most, can cause filming on a phone.

Conventional crowd

This is a crowd gathered for some occasion (convention). For example, a concert, performance, show, event, rally... It is divided into two types: potentially safe and potentially dangerous. This is, for example, a symphony, an opera, a play, a dolphinarium versus cockfights, football matches, boxing, rock concerts, etc. The first group should be expected to worry only in the event of some kind of incident (fire, terrorist attack, cataclysm). The second group itself poses a potential threat. The conditional crowd is held by a directed interest (listen to a song, watch a match, etc.), for the sake of which its members are ready to adhere to the rules established by the organizers as long as nothing affects the crowd - the show continues, the building does not burn, the meteorite does not fall, money (autographs) are not given out. After such changes, the crowd from “conditional” can turn into “aggressive”, “panic”, “greedy”, etc.

Expressive crowd

This is a crowd that expresses emotions rhythmically. Any. From admiration and joy to anger and rage. The main feature is rhythm. A crowd chanting a slogan warms itself up, which can lead to mass ecstasy and the following form:

Ecstatic (from the word "ecstasy") crowd

In this state, people fall into an even deeper state of altered consciousness, in which they are able to inflict wounds on themselves, sacrifice themselves, perform meaningless ritual actions, etc. For example, the “dances of St. Vitus”: during the time of the worst medieval plague, a big holiday came - St. Vitus Day. People were so tired and wanted to disconnect from this whole nightmare so much that they went crazy and danced to death. Literally.

Active (active) crowd

The most “decisive” crowd. The consequences of her actions cause the greatest change/damage. Depending on the motive, form and emotional mood, it is divided into:

Aggressive crowd

This is a crowd driven by anger, rage, and aggression. Exists at the expense of the enemy. As long as there is a simple and obvious scoundrel who needs to be torn to pieces, this form will support and intensify itself. As soon as the desired is achieved (the enemy fell/escaped/defeated), it immediately turns into a different species. They begin to rob (“greedy crowd”), or panic in case of failure.

Panic crowd

There is not a single case where danger justified panic. The term "panic" is generally believed to have originated from the Greek shepherd god Pan. Where is the connection? Introducing: night... Silence. Round sheep are quietly tossing and turning in the barn. Bad weather is approaching and the animals huddle together to keep warm... Bang!!! Lightning breaks the sky. The sheep begin to yell, shove each other, run in different directions, stumbling and falling. In blind horror, some jump off the cliff, some smash their foreheads against the walls of the barn and nearby trees, some freeze in place and stand in a stupor in the rain until dawn... Panic, in a word. Flash photography and noise are prohibited in protected areas. Why? Yes, because more deer die from heart attacks than from the teeth of predators. As it turned out, the animal part of a person is no different from the animal part of a sheep. There is a distinction between individual and collective panic. Both species are absolutely contagious and absolutely dangerous. During a panic attack, a person becomes many times stronger (the body believes that these are its last minutes and releases all the “fighting” hormones it has into the blood), does not feel pain at all (they run even with broken legs) and are completely unable to think. There is no time to analyze the situation (as it seems to the body) and only the automatic systems “run”, “save yourself”, “run faster” work. Unfortunately, this system is activated not only when there is no chance left, but also during a far-fetched/fictitious/exaggerated threat. Even if you get out of danger thanks to panic, your body will lose several years of its life due to wear and tear of the muscles (including the heart), blood vessels and nervous system (it will suffer first and most severely). It is better to consciously step from the roof of a burning five-story building onto a flowerbed than to jump from the second onto the fence in a panicked delirium.

The acquisitive (greedy) crowd

Massive pogroms of stores during street riots, scarce goods on the counter (here is the line at the bakery during the Holodomor and a new cool gadget), a crush in the subway (the treasure here is getting to work), a super-duper star signing autographs... Everything is clear here, Yes? This animal quality, to fight for the possession of something, is successfully used in sales. By artificially creating a rush/scarcity (or inspiring customers that with their product they will “join the greats”), you can increase sales immensely, force them to withdraw deposits from banks, fill the tank full (after all, there will be no more gasoline!!), etc. and so on.

Rebel crowd

In a number of ways, it is indistinguishable from an ordinary aggressive crowd. However, this is a completely different type. Interestingly, justifiably outraged people behave differently. And if for an aggressive crowd the immediate metamorphosis is “greedy” or “panic”, then for a rebel crowd it is a group. People united by an idea (and not by rage or malice) quickly develop signs of an organizational structure. Leaders and responsible persons appear (for food supplies, communications, medicine, for example).

Crowd management and manipulation

Akop Pogosovich himself responded very interestingly about this. He recalls how after every pogrom, officials shrug their shoulders, saying, “the crowd is uncontrollable.” Then they move towards the provocateurs. These are all provocateurs, they are the ones who got the crowd going. And we need to tighten the laws, put people with weapons, and... here we need to string up barbed wire. More. So that it would be discouraging... But the provocateurs managed to control the crowd. What kind of “uncontrollable” is she then? More than five hundred years ago, European institutions at the state level developed techniques for manipulating the crowd. Neither the techniques nor the people (oddly enough) have changed a bit since then.

Knowing the types of crowds and the methods that those who started it (or those who are responsible for disentangling it) can resort to, you will be able to predict people’s behavior and, on this basis, think through your exit plan. The main thing is, don’t bother anyone, don’t go against the flow, don’t lose your composure, and for the sake of your gods, don’t take on the responsibilities of the secret services! They also need to do something.

The art of crowd control (so to speak) is based on the principle of transforming one form into another. Let’s immediately make a reservation that if it has already reached a meeting of aggressive people, then there will be victims in any case. The only question is which ones, how many, whose and human or material.

The crowd consists of an emotionally charged core - a couple of dozen of the most “crazy” (not uncommonly under the influence of alcohol or drugs) surrounded by a dense cloud of like-minded yes-men. They do nothing but shout “Come on!” Beautiful! So them!!! We are with you,” etc. Then, behind the core, onlookers gather more or less freely. Next, using several examples, we will consider options for influencing an aggressive crowd.

Transformation of “aggressive - onlookers” through the core

An example of the most unreliable and dangerous (from the point of view of those who want to calm them down) but the most humane method. In the crowd, everyone feels their power and impunity due to anonymity. Operators and people with phones (with cameras) are inserted into the crowd, and noticeable security cameras are installed on buildings. The man was about to break a window (or throw a Molotov cocktail, shout something, etc.), and then suddenly, and he’s in the frame: “What am I doing? I'm just standing there. There is juice in the bottle. Peach.". Experienced teachers, for example, rarely say “class, be quiet!” - there will be no sense, since everyone is sure that this does not concern him. They say: “Sergey, how long will you talk?!” - here it doesn’t matter whether he’s guilty or not, everyone sees that they “went by name” and will have to answer for their actions individually. If the crowd has managed to warm up quite strongly, then this method not only will not work, but also the lives of the operators are in great danger.

“Aggressive - onlookers” through the periphery

Let’s fantasize again: an angry crowd is ready to break into the government building (or wherever they usually break into), and the irreversible is about to happen... And then - BANG!!! There's an accident about five hundred meters away. Moreover, the more spectacular the better (as people like): a timber truck collided with a beer tank. The people are in tears (how much forest has disappeared). It is already more interesting for the periphery to gather around an accident than to try to listen to the swearing of the core. The center, without the support of the rear ranks, quickly weakens and either disintegrates itself or is easily eliminated by the security forces. You can achieve results humanely (without an accident) by staging a concert with mega-stars from behind. The task is to grab attention. By any means. After the “distraction” has exhausted itself, people will remember why they came, but the mood will no longer be the same. Now the conflict can be resolved through negotiations, not weapons.

"Aggressive - panicky"

Quite an extreme and cruel method. But if the defense forces have no choice, they can resort to it. The dangers are as follows:

1. the crowd may not run away, but rather go on the attack (unlikely, but also taken into account)
2. during a panic there will be a lot of casualties (trampled, strangled, wounded). These victims are on the conscience of those who provoked them.

Let's imagine again: the same situation - an angry crowd, ready to storm. We put several people in the core, who, on command, feign inhuman fear and, splashing with saliva, shout something classic like: “They will shoot!!! Oh God, we're all going to die! I don’t want to die!!”, then a couple of bursts of firecrackers (or real shots)... As in the case of the sheep, everyone will run away together, without even thinking about whether the enemy has a weapon.

"Aggressive - greedy"

Rough and dishonest method. However, it always works flawlessly. The trick is to switch the rage of the crowd to some neutral object. For example, through an agent in the crowd, direct them to the estate of an ordinary official, or a supermarket, or a bank... You don’t even have to explain that all this property was stolen from the people and rightfully belongs to you. All it takes is the first brick to make a hole large enough for an Xbox in the display case, and the crowd will immediately rush in to loot. A revolution is a revolution, but no one has canceled the weakness in the face of “freebies”. Monuments of guilty leaders sometimes play a similar role - the role of a buffer for a disgruntled crowd: while the crane is brought in, while the cables are thrown, while they are thrown off, while this matter is celebrated... The ardor has already subsided, and the scoundrel has disappeared.

"Aggressive - expressive"

The expressive crowd is rhythmic. Aggressive - no. Surprisingly, if rhythm is imposed on an aggressive crowd, it will become expressive. That is: a furious crowd rushes to organize lynching and riots. Suddenly, loud and catchy music turns on (rock and roll, rock, metal...) and the crowd quickly gets into the rhythm and starts dancing. You can hold onto music for as long as you need. Up to complete loss of strength. Military engineers could not ignore it and invented a musical tank (not to be confused with a sound gun).

"Aggressive - aggressive"

It is worth taking off your hat to the composure and determination of the character A.N. Tolstoy, Sorokin, in the novel “Walking through Torment”. This successful example is also discussed in the works of Nazaretyan. Extremely dissatisfied with the command of their officer, the crowd was a second away from taking his life. There is no way to retreat or defend. At the moment of the last decision, Sorokin pointed his finger at the most furious member of the approaching crowd with the words “Here is your enemy!” The indicated one was immediately torn to pieces. And the commander turned from a potential dead man into the leader of the rebellion. The idea behind this method lies in the fact that people in a state of altered consciousness are very hypnotizable. This means that when a person loses self-awareness and rational thinking (and this is what happens to a person in a crowd), he becomes suggestible. The herd needs a leader. It cannot make decisions on its own, so it is very dependent on leaders, provocateurs, and commanders. Having given the order, the hero of the example took on the role of leader. The herd obeyed. This method is very dangerous and requires the performer to have great skill in the field of psychology, as well as a sense of tact. It is used quite often and effectively during mass riots, when it is not possible to prevent pogroms/murders peacefully. The crowd is pointed to one enemy, then to another. Subjecting less important objects to attack until it transforms into another form or is exhausted.

Conclusion

The myth about the uncontrollability and spontaneity of crowd actions is based on an erroneous understanding of its psychology. Depending on the type and level, the methods of influence also change. It is necessary to understand that the CROWD is lower on the intellectual ladder than, for example, the GROUP, and balanced arguments will no longer help here. The psychology of the crowd is based on animal instincts, which means that the levers of influence must be selected accordingly. This information is presented so that you understand the destructive effect a crowd can have on an individual and how it can be easily controlled after that. If you find yourself among a large crowd of people and have reason to believe that the situation is/is out of the control of the organizers (authorities, law enforcement representatives), immediately leave the dangerous territory. Move quickly and decisively, but do not run, so as not to provoke unexpected panic or simply fall. And under no circumstances try to manipulate the crowd yourself! This is the work of experienced psychologists. By trying to subjugate people (or already someone’s puppets), you can not only provoke them, but also get charged by the authorities for incitement. The best way to protect yourself from an aggressive crowd is:

1. maintain composure and composure in any situation
2. do not go against the flow, do not try to stop (convince) the crowd. Don't attract attention.
3. avoid large crowds of people. Even the most peaceful rally in honor of world peace and fluffy kittens can turn into a deadly stampede. And the rash actions of some insane person (drunk) can even cause panic.

Source

Literature

The phenomenon under consideration is perfectly described by the great poet M.Yu. Lermontov in his poem entitled “How often surrounded by a motley crowd...”. In this work, the writer skillfully portrayed the society he despised, exposing life’s “masquerade” and the cold soullessness of secular society.

He managed to convey the heap of images in the best possible way, and such figures of speech as “the decency of pulled masks,” “soulless people,” “long-faltering hands” and “the wild whisper of closed speeches” seem to transport the reader into that atmosphere - but whatever, to the hall where the ball took place. In fact, more can be said about the poem “How often surrounded by a motley crowd…”, and a much more detailed and in-depth analysis can be carried out. However, everyone will find something catching in it that touches the soul. It's definitely worth reading at least once.

Signs of a Crowd

It’s also worth noting them with attention. The types of crowds differ in conditions and circumstances, but their characteristics are the same. These are considered the main ones:

• Numerousness. In small groups, psychological phenomena that are typical of a crowd do not arise.
• Aimlessness.
• Increased contact. All people are at a minimum distance from each other. Sometimes it’s not there at all. So each individual enters the personal space of his “neighbor.”
• Emotional excitement. As mentioned earlier, unbalanced dynamic states and unrest are typical psychological states of the crowd.
• Disorganization. Crowds form spontaneously. There is no organization in them, and if it appears, it is lost very quickly.

Human behavior in a crowd

It is also of some interest. The behavior of a person in a crowd changes due to the circumstances surrounding him. And this is what is observed in the vast majority of cases:

• Reduced internality. Self-control disappears - the individual’s dependence on the crowd increases, he unconsciously submits to the influence of the crowd. The ability to regulate one's own behavior disappears.
• Loss of individuality. All crowd participants gradually come to the same level of psychological and behavioral manifestations. No matter how different they are, each eventually becomes similar to each other.
• Inability to concentrate on one object. Uncritical thinking appears, attention is easily switched.
• Quick assimilation and subsequent dissemination of the information received. At the same time, a person can also involuntarily distort and exaggerate what he hears. This is how rumors appear in the crowd.
• Suggestibility. Under the influence of external circumstances, a person easily believes in things that, in a different situation, he would consider nonsense. This includes lies, disinformation, obviously impossible promises, absurd slogans, calls, etc.
• Increased activation. When a person is in a crowd, all his resources are mobilized. That is why often people in such conditions exhibit such physical and psychological qualities that seemed inaccessible to him. In other words, a person himself is surprised at what he turns out to be capable of.
• Atypical behavior. Sometimes a person, being in a crowd, can begin to do something that he would never do. And then, remembering what happened, he will refuse to believe in it.

And these are just some of the reasons why the crowd phenomenon is of interest to specialists. After all, this is not just a crowd of people. A crowd poses a real danger - both for those around them and for those inside it.

Crowd Study

History

Phenomena such as riots, uprisings, revolutions, migration of peoples, wars and other phenomena associated with the participation of a large number of people are studied.

Sociology

The main task is to predict crowd behavior. At the same time, differences between individual members of the crowd are not taken into account; phenomena are considered as statistically average.

Psychology

The goal is to explain the mechanisms that lead a person to a state where a person is influenced by the crowd.

The mental state of an individual in a crowd is characterized by a sharp increase in the influence of the following factors [1]:

1. Increasing the emotionality of perception of everything he sees and hears.
2. Increased suggestibility and decreased degree of critical attitude towards oneself and the ability to rationally process perceived information.
3. Suppressing a sense of responsibility for one's own behavior.
4. Emergence of a sense of power and awareness of anonymity.

The psychology of the crowd has long occupied the minds of thinkers. Gustave Le Bon in “Psychology of Nations and Masses” characterized the soul of the crowd in this way:

The most striking fact observed in a spiritualized crowd is this: whatever the individuals who compose it, whatever their mode of life, occupation, character or mind, their mere transformation into a crowd is enough for them to form a kind of collective a soul that makes them feel, think and act completely differently than each of them would think, act and feel individually. There are ideas and feelings that arise and turn into actions only among the individuals who make up the crowd. The spiritualized crowd is a temporary organism formed from heterogeneous elements, united together for an instant, just as the cells that make up a living body are united and through this connection form a new being, possessing properties different from those possessed by each cell in the separately.

Mass hysteria

Mass hysteria

- a phenomenon in
crowd psychology
, when, according to the Russian psychologist, academician Bekhterev, the crowd behaves more stupidly than an individual, and ceases to be a collection of rational beings.