Crowd psychology studies how individuals adapt to the expectations of a group, with theories focusing on conscious and unconscious ways individuals align with crowd mentality. Convergence theory suggests crowd behavior is shaped by individuals, while Emergent-Norm approach states crowds are collections of individuals who retain their individual traits. Group dynamics and individual reactions are controversial, but crowd psychology remains an interesting area of study.
Crowd psychology is a phenomenon that is understood as part of the larger study of social psychology. The underlying concept is that the thought processes and behavior patterns of the individual often vary from those of a larger group, although these same individuals often adapt to the expectations of the surrounding culture and modify individual traits to identify with the crowd. Several theories focus on both conscious and unconscious ways individuals align with crowd mentality.
Convergence theory applied to crowd psychology is that crowd behavior is concentrated and shaped based on the input of the individuals that make up the group. Within this framework, people who wish to join the existing group will make the choice to identify with the prevailing mentality. In some cases, this may mean minimizing or abandoning behaviors or beliefs that are not in harmony with the majority.
Change can occur in the group over time, however, due to the inclusion of new people who identify with part of the group’s beliefs and behaviors, but who also bring new concepts with them. As groups of people assimilate these new ideas, the overall culture of the group changes. This is a process that can take long periods of time and over many years can be so subtle that even the most traditional members of the group may not be aware of the incremental rate of change.
The Emergent-Norm approach to crowd psychology states that crowds are collections of individuals who usually congregate around a base of connected understandings but still retain many of their individual traits. It is the expression of these individual traits that can be picked up by other members of the community, and eventually become part of the overall mindset of the group. In this process, different members assume roles within the society, some emerging as leaders, while others become managers, and still others as active followers. Within any group psychology, there are those who remain passive and tend to get along with the majority. Roles are not set in stone, so it is possible for an individual to function as a leader at some point and later change his expression to that of a follower or a manager.
As with any theory of psychology, there are a number of other approaches to crowd psychology that tend to assign responsibility for group dynamics and individual reactions to a wide variety of situations and motivations. There is still a great deal of controversy as to whether groups of people influence the individual or whether acting collectively is the result of choices made by individuals. With some merits and many examples to illustrate each approach, this phenomenon will likely continue to be an interesting area of study for many years to come.
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