In this lesson, we will discuss three different theories to explain crowd behavior: contagion theory, convergent theory, and emergent norm theory.

In short, contagion theory argues that collective behavior is irrational and results from the contagious influence of the crowds in which individuals find themselves. Contagion theory assumes that people in a crowd act emotionally and irrationally because they come under the influence of the crowd’s impulses.

According to your text, which of the following is a criticism of contagion theory? It downplays individual agency. Collective action can be best defined as_____ action that takes place in groups and diverges from the social norms of the situation. What is ironic about how we define ourselves as individuals?

Collective behavior is easy to study. Collection of differing attitudes that members of a public have about a particular issue.

The four types he distinguished are casual crowds, conventional crowds, expressive crowds, and acting crowds. A fifth type, protest crowds, has also been distinguished by other scholars.

Examples of collective behavior may include a crowd doing the wave at a football game, a group of people forming around a street preacher, or even widespread interest in a new fad or product, like silly bands. I will explain collective behavior in sociology through three main forms: the crowd, the mob, and the riot.

Collective behavior results when several conditions exist, including structural strain, generalized beliefs, precipitating factors, and lack of social control.

a crowd is a temporary gathering of a large number of people who share a common focus on activity or attention and who influence each other. a mass is a large number of people who share a specific interest or activity but are spatially dispersed.

Collective behavior is relatively spontaneous behavior that follows from the formation of a group or crowd of people who react to a common influence in an ambiguous situation. It is a type of social behavior that occurs when people are influenced by others and take action toward a shared goal.

Contagion theory is a theory of collective behavior which explains that the crowd can cause a hypnotic impact on individuals. These entire theories share a basic idea of how individual can act briefly unreasonable or inconsistent within a group and become normal when they are not in it.

He identified 6 preconditions for collective behavior. These are structural conduciveness, structural strain, growth and the spread of a generalized belief, precipitating factors, mobilization for action, and social control.

1. the mental and emotional states and processes characteristic of individuals when aggregated in such groups as audiences, crowds, mobs, and social movements. The term is mainly associated with early theorists in this area, such as Gustave Le Bon . 2.

But sociologists use this term to refer to that social behaviour which exhibits the following characteristics:

• Spontaneous and episodic: Collective behaviour is spontaneous and takes place occasionally rather than regularly and routinely.
• Unstable:
• Unstructured:
• Unpredictable:
• Irrational:
• Emotional:
• Non-traditional:

The concept is the same: whereas an individual personality relates to an individual’s consistent behaviors across time and contexts, a collective personality relates to a group’s consistent behaviors across time and contexts.

His “value-added schema” suggests that the determinants of Collective Behavior are given by a sequence of events and elements: structural conduciveness; structural strain; growth and the spread of a generalized belief; precipitating factors; mobilization of the participants for action; operation of social control.

Emergent norm theory hypothesizes that non- traditional behavior (such as that associated with collective action) develops in crowds as a result of the emergence of new behavioral norms in response to a precipitating crisis. The norms that develop within crowds are not strict rules for behavior.

Mass behavior is a type of social behavior and is defined as collective behavior among people who are spatially dispersed from one another. Collective behavior of an aggregate of individuals giving the appearance of unity of attitude, feeling, and motivation.

In Smelser’s original formulation, there were six determinants of collec- tive behavior, The determinants are labeled structural conduciveness, struc- tural strain, growth and spread of a generalized belief, precipitating factors, mobilization of participants for action, and the operation of social control.

Collective bahavior includes the study of crowds and crowd behavior. Collective Behavior is difficult to study because: That is, each has different causes and involves unique patterns of behavior. So, it’s not only hard to compare a riot to a panic, but it’s equally as difficult to compare one riot to another.

Four Types

Collective action refers to the actions taken by a collection or group of people, acting based on a collective decision.

A collective action problem or social dilemma is a situation in which all individuals would be better off cooperating but fail to do so because of conflicting interests between individuals that discourage joint action.

Collective action is any form of organized social or political act carried about by a group of people in order to address their needs. Collective action is a subject of interest to people working in a variety of different disciplines, such as sociology, social psychology, and economics.

Incentives that help overcome collective action problems include material, solidary, and purposive benefits. These are often offered by group leaders. Sometimes, political, economic, or social disturbances help overcome collective action problems by mobilizing groups.

Here are some examples: Individuals often want to do things that emit a lot of greenhouse gases, but society overall may be better off with less climate change. Individuals often want to drive cars so as to get around faster, but driving causes more air pollution that harms the whole group.

Global climate change has become the collective action problem of our era. Using CMT key elements of collective action production functions, group hetero- geneity, and interdependence, the author explores the world’s collective ability to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the country level.

The collective goods problem is the problem of how to provide something that benefits all members of a group regardless of what each member contributes to it.

In economics, a public good (also referred to as a social good or collective good) is a good that is both non-excludable and non-rivalrous. For such utilities, users cannot be barred from accessing and/or using them for failing to pay for them.

Collective Action is becoming increasingly popular as a tool to help solve some of the more difficult and systemic aspects of bribery. It also plays an important role for peer companies keen to ensure a level playing field when acquiring new business.