Unlike previous theories, this theory refocuses attention from collective behavior to collective action. That time of the year already, quite hard to believe. The dynamics of collective social behavior in a crowd controlled. Moscovici, the french social psychologist, argues that it doesnt only theorize, it created the mass politics of the 20 th and the 21 st century, and le bons book was cited by mussolini, by goebbels. Crowd psychology wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. Mob psychology project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Theories of the crowd behaviour theories crowd social. The crowd may provide an outlet for relieving their frustration. Stephen reicher on crowd psychology social science space. By closely examining, through participant observation, the unfolding of one episode of nonviolent collective behavior at a professional football game, four frequently applied theories of collective behavior are tested for their utility in sports crowd situations. Stuart jeffries explores the fascinating world of social psychology and the mentality of groups. Both books pushed the topic of collective behavior back into the consciousness of american sociologists and both theories.
Collective behavior rothschilds introduction to sociology. Apr, 2018 i searched and searched, and finally i found it. Mein kampf has been called a poor persons the crowd. According to emergent norm theory, when a crowd gathers for a particular event or. Interested in understanding crowd events and management from the perspective of experts in the field. An acting crowd focuses on a specific action or goal. Khan academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at. The core concepts and assumptions of the deindividuation theory will be critically evaluated. Comprehensive edition, the convergence theory is one of the theories that presents a new understanding of collective behavior. Explaining collective behavior introduction to sociology.
The potential strengths and limitations of this theory will be considered, as an explanation of crowd looting. An expressive crowd gathers specifically for the purpose of letting out emotions. While contagion theory and emergent norm theory focus on how crowds affect individuals, convergence theory sees individuals as the key force that affects crowds. In other words, if a crowd becomes violent a mob or riot, convergence theory would argue that this is not because the crowd encouraged violence but rather because. Apr 07, 20 psychology definition of convergence theory. Convergence theory is an explanation of collective behavior opens in new window assuming that individuals with similar needs, values, or goals tend to converge to form a single group. Mcphails theory focused primarily on the processes associated with crowd behavior, plus the lifecycle of. The following points highlight the four important theories of crowd behaviour. The study of collective behavior spun its wheels for many years, but began to make progress with the appearance of turner and killians collective behavior 1957 and smelsers theory of collective behavior 1962. Like contagion theory, convergence theory relatively. The stonewall riots collective behavior collective action.
The theory is first developed by gustave le bon in his book called the crowd. Study 59 terms sociology exam 4 flashcards quizlet. To apply the mens rights social movement to the social movement convergence theory, one has to have knowledge on what the theory is about. Crowd psychology, also known as mob psychology, is a branch of social psychology. According to contagion theory, crowd influence the behavior of an individual with in a crowd. Another more viable argument, convergence theory, proved to be a better explanation of crowd behavior. Convergence theory holds that crowds form from people of similar dispositions, whose actions are then reinforced and intensified by the crowd. Guinness world records 2015 gamers edition 2014 guinness book. From this point of view, a crowd is a convergence of likeminded individuals. Speaking of wishes, we also hope ours come true 2018 was quite a transition for us with a number of updates. What do contagion and convergence theories say about crowd behavior. Collective behavior and social movements from the book sociology. Guidance and lessons identified, in order to better appreciate the derivation of the guidelines.
He saw that groups could foster racism and they could foster civil rights movements. Convergence theory definition, discussion and examples. Crowd behavior reflects the beliefs and intentions that individuals already share before they join a crowd. This takes the opposite view to freuds theory on crowd behaviour which states that the behaviour is a product of the crowd, where as the convergence theory states that the behaviour is carried into the crowd by certain individuals. Convergence theory convergence theory argues that the behavior of a crowd is not an emergent property of the crowd but is a result of likeminded individuals coming together. Rather, crowd behavior reflects the behavior and attitudes of the individuals who decide to join a crowd. Collective behavior and the stonewall riots the term collective behavior refers to behavior that militates against social norms and conventions regarding the way that individuals should behave in society and differing to the way that they normally behave when not. Convergence theory holds that crowd behavior is not a product of the crowd itself, but is carried into the crowd by particular people. Collective behavior and social movements github pages. This theory assumes that crowd behavior reflects the preexisting value, beliefs, and behavioral disposition of the individuals who join a crowd. The convergence theory as applied to crowd psychology is that the behavior of the crowd takes on focus and form based on the input of the individuals who make up the group.
The second theory discussed was the convergence theory. Within this framework, people who wish to become part of the existing group will make a choice to identify with the prevailing mindset. Lastly, emergent norm theory responds to the limits of the convergence theory and defines crowd behaviorrather than a violation of a dominant normas the construction of an emergent norm appropriate to the changing and often chaotic situations of collective behavior episodes. The books and articles about them are far more numerous than the sum of studies of all the other forms of collective behavior put together.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Appears to be a technological view of marxism, which dominates social theory. It forms part of the understanding crowd behaviour research report series. Remember that collective behavior is a noninstitutionalized gathering, whereas collective action is based on a shared interest. The theory of convergence suggests that a crowd is formed of likeminded people who share the same views and feelings. The convergence theory has gained currency among various intellectual circles in the west. What book should i read to understand crowd psychology. Lebons contagion theory is that a collective mind forms in a crowd which takes over the individual minds of crowd members and causes them to. Here, we study the dynamics of a crowd controlled game twitch plays. Convergence theory, crowd behavior reflects the beliefs and intentions that. Applying the social movement theory of convergence to the. In other words, crowd behavior is not spontaneous but planned, aimed to achieve certain goals and objectives. And yet, as a university student future social psychologist stephen reicher often witnessed sublime behavior from collections of people.
Social psychologists have developed several theories for explaining the ways in which the psychology of a crowd. Convergence in psychology and sociology is an approach to the study of crowd behavior. It becomes a reflection of the combined attitudes of the individuals who have joined the crowd. This theory assumes that crowd behavior reflects the preexisting value, beliefs, and behavioral disposition of the individuals who join a. The case of the great pumpkin incident linda levy department of sociology rutgers university abstract disagreement on which theory of collective behavior best predicts or explains how crowd processes work prompted this case study. Introduction to sociologycollective behavior wikibooks. Convergence theorists such as, reicher 1984, and mcphail 1991, argue that individuals within a crowd do not loose personal identity, as stated in the contagion theory, but they communicate personal beliefs and values so that the crowds behaviour is that of similar feeling. Convergence theory claims that motivations are not born in the crowd but develop in individuals who carry them to the crowd.
Stuart jeffries on social psychology and the mentality of. Thus, crowds amount to a convergence of likeminded individuals. First is contagion theory, proposes that crowds exert a hypnotic influence on their members that results in irrational and emotionally charged behavior often referred to as crowd frenzy. According to this theory, crowds do not unduly influence individuals to act in emotional and even violent ways. A study of the popular mind, attributed crowd behavior to the collective racial unconscious of the mob overtaking individuals. Convergence theory convergence theory holds that crowd behavior is not a product of the crowd itself, but is carried into the crowd by particular individuals. Khan academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the. In the convergence theory, the influences of a crowd do not encourage or dictate the actions of a person. Each condition adds to the likelihood that collective behavior will occur. Convergence theory whereas the contagion theory states that crowds cause people to. Second is convergence theory that argues the behavior of a crowd is not an emergent property of the crowd but is a result of likeminded individuals coming. Convergence theory claims that crowd behavior is not irrational. Convergence theory presumes that as nations move from the early stages of industrialization toward becoming fully industrialized, they begin to resemble other industrialized societies in terms of societal norms and technology.
Contagion theory is a theory of collective behavior which explains that the crowd can cause a hypnotic impact on individuals. Neil smelsers 1962 meticulous categorization of crowd behavior, called valueadded theory, is a perspective within the functionalist tradition based on the idea that several conditions must be in place for collective behavior to occur. Sep 30, 2019 convergence theory presumes that as nations move from the early stages of industrialization toward becoming fully industrialized, they begin to resemble other industrialized societies in terms of societal norms and technology. The potential strengths and limitations of this theory will be considered, as an explanation of. Thus, crowds amount to a convergence of likeminded people. In this lesson, we will explore convergence theories, including the definition of convergence and theories. He argues, when we get together in a crowd, we literally become submerged in the crowd, we lose our individuality. The expression collective behavior was first used by franklin henry giddings 1908 and. First things first, all of us at theory of convergence wish you an amazing year 2019, may all your wishes come true. Therefore, in arguing against the convergence theory, marxists must use a differentiated approach with respect to different proponents of this theory. In other words, while contagion theory states that crowds cause people to act in a certain way, convergence theory says the opposite. In other words, if a crowd becomes violent a mob or riot, convergence theory would argue that this is not because the crowd encouraged violence but rather because people who wanted to become violent came together in the crowd. Lebon has put forth some important point to explain the causes of action crowd or mob.
Convergence theory holds that crowds behavior comes not from the crowd itself bu also from the particular people who join it. We would recommend reading this report as a supplement to understanding crowd behaviours. What he saw much of the time was group behavior completely at odds with the psychology i was learning. The people attending a baptist revival service share a number of characteristics which from those of a racetrack crowd. Collective behavior,collective behavior and social movement. Mcphail, a literate and leading contemporary analyst of crowd behavior, goes beyond turner and killian in assessing earlier approaches and in setting an agenda for future research. Pdf crowd behaviour and collective action researchgate. The case of the great pumpkin incident linda levy department of sociology rutgers university abstract disagreement on which theory of collective behavior best predicts or explains how crowd processes work prompted this. Convergence theory argues that the behavior of a crowd is not an emergent property of the crowd but is a result of likeminded individuals coming together. Once they converge in a crowd, the behavior of the crowd is a consequence of their behavior and attitude. Which of the four explanations of crowd behavior contagion theory, social unrest and circular reaction, convergence theory, and emergent norm theory do you believe best explains crowd behavior.
Convergence theory article about convergence theory by the. Myth of the madding crowd is the most important work in collective behavior since r. Jan 20, 2012 convergence theory holds that crowd behavior is not a product of the crowd itself, but is carried into the crowd by particular people. The third theory discussed was the emergent norm theory. While the theories of le bon, freud and others are based on the structure of personality and the manner in which the individual is changed by the crowd, turner employs the concepts derived from the study of small groups. However, convergence theory says that, individuals gather at one place intentionally because they share same objective and motives. Some of its proponents are socially and politically reactionary, and others are more or less progressive. Convergence theory is one of the theories that presented this new understanding of collective behavior.
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