After reading the articles about mob mentality i can define it as the way people act behave and think in a large group of people, or it can be defined as the thinking of a large group of people. When large groups gather and the emotions are heightened the group is more likely to do something they would never do by themselves. As a result people in the group will do something they will regret later whether they regret it in minutes or days it does not matter, eventually they will realize what they did was wrong. The reasoning behind this is they are in a large crowd and they believe their actions will have no consequences and the cops will not be able to find them. During all of that commotion the crowds the best people can turn into a common
One of the major causes individuals get caught up in mob mentality is because people feel pressured to execute the corrupt actions in order to be accepted in society. Mob mentality can trigger certain emotions to participate in terrible public events in which causes harm to others. In the 1920’s, a horrible incident occurred in Duluth Minnesota which will always be remembered in history.
This is modeled by the fact that people being in groups, causes them to act and think differently than they would have if they had been alone. In her essay, Tavris uses many examples of this: In the case of Kitty Genovese or the late Rodney King who was beat to death by police officers. People have a tendency to act differently in groups, others suffer due to people not wanting to “rock the boat” or they do not want to “embarrass themselves or others if they are wrong” (19). Tavris offers a solution to the way people act in groups, “By understanding the impulse to diffuse responsibility, perhaps as individuals we will be more likely to act. By understanding the social pressures that reward group-think, loyalty and obedience, we can foster those that reward whistle blowing and moral courage. And, as a society, we can reinforce the belief that they also sing who stand and watch” (19). If civilization can solve the dilemma of people acting differently when they are in groups with others, the world could be a much improved place.
The word “Mob” (in terms of sociology) is defined as “a group of persons stimulating one another to excitement and losing ordinary rational control over their activity” (“Mob”). This definition simply describes a group of people who were either directly or indirectly influenced by each other to do something. Similarly, Mob Mentality can be defined as the mentality of people, when they are indirectly motivated by another individual to do something. This slightly chaotic type of mentality, can be both good and bad in different circumstances. Mob Mentality can be a positive occurrence if used in an uplifting sense such as giving a standing applause to someone, but also hindering and distracting if the action occuring is negative like a group of people lying in order to get someone in trouble.
After reading the mob mentality pieces, I conclude that mobs can be very dangerous because the general feeling of the mob overshadows the individual beliefs and ethics of its constituent members. One reason for this may be that each person within the group may have something in common, like a small, seemingly unimportant belief; nevertheless, it can serve as the fuel for the fire that is the mob mentality. A belief that one’s team is superior than the other team can be the fuel for riots and mobs regarding sports (Edmonds). Normally, this preference alone would not be enough to cause someone to riot or protest; conversely, seeing others riot or protest because the other team won combined with a person’s love of the losing team can be enough
In general, societies themselves are each like large mob or crowd. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, the entire nation became weary and angered by Japanese Americans and visitors. The crowd mentality in countries is what leads to mass strikes, political battles, and even wars. Similarly, in Brave New World all of the citizens were like one giant mob and the beliefs and attitude of the populous injured anyone who opposed it. For instance, Bernard’s tarnished reputation due to him behaving conservatively and the fascination with the Savage. The conditioning through childhood helped accentuate this crowd mentality and thought and the group’s “unity” makes the crowd and even stronger
For example, a non peaceful mob gathering was the riot in Charlotte, North Carolina when a black cop shot and killed a black man. People during this time loathed the cops because there were similar incidents to this one that caused riots as well. These riots were part of the “Black Lives Matter” movement that erupted in 2016. The riot included breakage of storefronts, personal vehicles, injuries, and deaths. The police made a total of 44 arrests that night, and many police and civilians were injured in this riot. The people involved had an intense disdain towards the cops during that time, and that caused them to engender the riot. In conclusion, the consequences of non peaceful mob gatherings, such as the riot in Charlotte, could result in injuries, death, and
Secondly, a hostile neighbourhood enables the development of juvenile delinquents. Urban and inner city areas experience high levels of deviance and are plagued with criminal elements and gang related activities. Furthermore, gangs possess an influential presence on the youth, especially young males who join willing or by force through intimidation or the threat of violence. Gangs are often view as a source of security and a benefit to communities like those aforementioned. Whyte stated that gangs rather than being in conflict with its community, was viewed as an integral part of the social order (Muncie, 2009, p. 32). However, gang activities does more harm than good because innocent civilians are caught in the cross fire between rival gangs,
A crowd are grouping of indiviuals, that are physically closed enough to engage in a social interaction. There are diferent type of crowd namely: acting crowd, casual crowd, conventional crowd, solidaristic crowd and expressive crowd. A crowd is normal term or seen as criminal. Various groups can come together to form a crowd, such as sex, nationality or profession. When people come together they tend to exhibit certain character differen from their normal character, they have same sentimenta and idea, while their conscious personality vanishes.
The quotation, “A crowd finds it easier to cheer than to think,” is very telling of human nature. We often adopt a mob mentality when we are around others; as a result of this mentality, people often refrain from thinking about the consequences of their actions when acting as a group. Human nature drives us to better our image and fit in with others, so we sometimes do whatever others are doing simply to make ourselves fit in. This mentality is present constantly throughout the world and human life and affects much of human behavior and the establishing of social norms. I agree entirely with the quotation presented in regards to human nature; it proposes a mob mentality that shapes much of our culture and societies today.
When people form big groups they act in certain ways, which are different from how they would act if they where alone. I think the mass hysteria theory does a good job of explaining collective behavior. It says that people in crowds lose the ability to think and act rationally. It goes further in saying that the crowd shares an emotional bond, similar to group think theory. One example of this is the Berkeley riots, where protesters forced the cancelation of the guest speaker Milo Yiannopoulos. About 150 protesters lit fires, threw Molotov cocktails, and caused thousands in damages. This example points out the intensity of behavior, homogeneity of mood and action, and irrational behavior. Most likely those people would not do something like
Groupthink, a term created by social psychologist Irving Janis (1972), takes place when a cluster settles on broken choices since crowd persuasion leads to a breakdown of "mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment". Clusters influenced by groupthink overlook choices and tend to take ridiculous movements that deprive our positive human qualities from separate crowds. A group is particularly defenseless against groupthink when its individuals are comparable in experience, when the cluster is protected from outside conclusions, and when there are no reasonable principles for basic leadership.
The mob mentality is an extremely dangerous force because it thrives on easy-to-incite feelings rather than on reason and deflects responsibility from any individual member of the mob. It is far easier to arouse emotion and quick judgements than it is to prompt people to form knowledgeable thoughts on a topic. The crowd mentality can also have a larger impact than just bad decisions because it can utilize the power and the force of magnitudes more people than a simple mistake can influence. This kind of mentality seemingly deflects responsibility from the individual and has been used to support many dastardly deeds that no one person could morally bear to perform. Emotion can be aroused by half-truths and falsehoods, which require little effort
First, when people become crowd, the willing of the crowd leads action instead of the intelligence and the thought from person. Which means it is easy to be implied by the leader and the wrong information and make the wrong decision. One ship wanted to find in a storm with its lost cruiser. And the crew found a sign of a raft filled with people, officers and other crew also said they saw it. But when the goal was reached, the people on board found that they had found a few branches full of leaves that drifted from the nearby coast. This is ridiculous, but people can influence by the wrong sign easily. Also, the crowd doesn’t have the idea of morality, because individual is hided in the group. Because of that, people can follow the leader to do anything, even illegal and cruel. It is the same as the people think if all of the cars on the street are over speed, then the policeman won’t give a ticket to anyone. When gentlemen get together, they can follow the authority to do something they won’t do
As just noted, the term collective behavior refers to a miscellaneous set of behaviors. As such, these behaviors often have very little in common with each other, even if their basic features allow them to be classified as collective behavior. Common forms of collective behavior discussed in this section include crowds, mobs, panics, riots, disaster behavior, rumors, mass hysteria, moral panics, and fads and crazes. Of these forms, some (crowds, panics, riots, and disasters) involve people who are generally in each other’s presence and who are more or less interacting with each other, while other forms (rumors, mass hysteria, moral panics, and fads and crazes) involve people
Everyday, people experience mob mentality on a vastly different scale. Some days, it is seen very well, and others, it is difficult to see some. But everyday, regardless of whereabouts, there is mob mentality of some form. Mob mentality is the behavioral changes one undergoes when in a large group of people to fit in with the group. Mob mentality is important for everyone because without it, at specific events such as football games or concerts, the feeling of unison between all of the fans is important. For a minute, everyone is fitting in and not out of place, no matter their background. Threshold theory is the amount of people it takes to do something before you willingly agree to do it. In Blue Valley West and The Crucible these are seen.