Crowd is a temporary accumulation of a large number of people in an area allowing direct contact, who spontaneously react to the same stimuli in a similar or identical way.
The crowd does not have established organizational norms and no set of moral principles and taboos. What emerges here are primitive but powerful impulses and emotions.
The crowd is usually divided into four types:
- aggressive crowd;
- fleeing (escaping) crowd;
- hungry crowd;
- demonstrating crowd.
All these types of crowds have many common phenomena:
- deindividuation, i.e. partial disappearance of individual personality traits and a tendency to imitate;
- a sense of standardization, which entails a weakening of ethical and legal standards;
- a strong feeling that the actions taken are correct;
- a sense of one’s own strength and a decreased sense of responsibility for one’s actions.
In a crowd, a person is involuntarily transmitted increased excitability regarding one's own social feelings, there is a multiple mutual strengthening of the emotional impact. Hence, even an accidentally thrown word in a crowd that offends political preferences can become an impetus for pogroms and violence.
Unconscious anxiety about what has been done often exacerbates the feeling of persecution - a special excitability of the crowd towards its true or illusory enemies.
The influence of the crowd on an individual is transient, although the mood that arises in him can last a long time. The bond that unites the crowd is destroyed, if new stimuli create different emotions:
- the crowd disperses under the influence of the instinct of self-preservation or fear (if the crowd is doused with water or fired upon);
- the crowd can also disperse under the influence of such feelings as hunger, a sense of humor, excitement directed towards other goals, etc.
Methods of overcoming or psychologically disarming the crowd are based on the use of this kind of mental mechanisms, just as the technical techniques by which the crowd is manipulated are based on knowledge of the mechanisms that unite the crowd.
Crowd Formation
Crowd- a temporary and random meeting of individuals of any nationality, profession and gender, regardless of the reason for this meeting. Under certain conditions, a participant in such a meeting - a “man of the crowd” - is characterized by completely new features that differ from those that characterize individual individuals. The conscious personality disappears, and the feelings and ideas of all the individual units that form the whole called the crowd take the same direction. A “collective soul” is formed, which, of course, is temporary, but the meeting in such cases becomes what the Frenchman G. Lebon (1841 - 1931) called an organized crowd or a spiritualized crowd, constituting a single being and obeying the law of spiritual unity of the crowd.
Without a doubt, the mere fact of the chance occurrence of many individuals together is not enough for them to acquire the character of an organized crowd; This requires the influence of certain pathogens. According to the French sociologist and psychologist S. Moscovici, the masses are a social phenomenon: individuals “dissolve” under the influence of suggestion that comes from the leader. The social machine of massing people makes them irrational when people, irritated by some event, gather together and the conscience of individuals cannot restrain their impulses. The masses are carried away, spurred on by the leader (“the mad leading the blind”). In such cases, politics acts as a rational form of using the irrational essence of the masses. Having said “yes” to the leader, the exalted crowd changes its faith and is transformed. Emotional energy propels her forward and gives her the courage to endure suffering and at the same time insensitivity. The energy that the masses draw from their hearts is used by leaders to press the levers of government and lead many people towards the goal dictated by reason.
“Social involvement” may be a factor that enhances the behavioral component. For example, street riots, riots, pogroms and other similar aggressive mass actions activate individual attitudes (negative attitude towards the authorities, the police or some “hostile” group), which under normal conditions are manifested only in verbal assessments or moods. In such situations, an additional reinforcing factor is the phenomenon of emotional contagion that occurs in large gatherings of people, a crowd.
Characterizing collective behavior and role, three types of formation of spontaneous groups are distinguished:
Crowd, which is formed on the street due to a variety of events (traffic accident, detention of an offender, etc.). At the same time, the elements, being the main background of crowd behavior, often lead to its aggressive forms. If there is a person capable of leading a crowd, pockets of organization arise in it, which, however, are extremely unstable;
Weight- a more stable formation with unclear boundaries, which is more organized, conscious (rallies, demonstrations), although heterogeneous and quite unstable. Among the masses, the role of organizers who do not come forward spontaneously, but are known in advance, is more significant;
Public, which usually gathers for a short time together in connection with some kind of spectacle. The public is quite divided; its specific feature is the presence of a psychic connection and a common goal. Because of a common goal, the public is more controllable than a crowd, although an incident can make its actions uncontrollable (say, the behavior of fans in a stadium if their favorite team loses).
Thus, under crowd understand a temporary and random gathering of people, characterized by spiritual and emotional community, spatial proximity and the presence of an external stimulus. Weight - somewhat more stable and conscious education of individuals (for example, participants in a rally or demonstration); the organizers of the masses do not appear spontaneously, but are determined in advance. Public - this is a community of people who are consumers of the same spiritual and information product; Unlike the crowd, the public is united not on a territorial, but on a spiritual basis. Spontaneous groups in general are a constant element of social life at all stages of its development, and their role in the development of many social processes is very significant.
Behavior of people in a socially unorganized community
Let us consider the essential features of an unorganized social community. A variety of such a community, along with the public and the masses, is the crowd.
The behavior of people in a crowd is distinguished by a number of mental characteristics: some deindividuation of the personality occurs, a primitive emotional-impulsive reaction dominates, the imitative activity of people sharply intensifies, and the anticipation of the possible consequences of their actions decreases. In a crowd, people exaggerate the legality of their actions, their critical assessment decreases, the sense of responsibility becomes dulled, and a sense of anonymity dominates. Against the background of general emotional stress caused by a particular situation, people entering the crowd quickly succumb to mental infection.
A person in a crowd acquires a sense of anonymity, self-liberation from social control. Along with this, in crowd conditions, the conformity of individuals, their compliance with the behavior models proposed by the crowd, sharply increases. The casual crowd easily includes people who feel the need for thrills. The so-called expressive crowd easily includes people who are impulsive and emotionally labile. Such a crowd is easily carried away by rhythmic influences - marches, chants, chanting slogans, rhythmic gestures. An example of this type of crowd behavior is the behavior of fans in a stadium. An expressive crowd easily develops into an active crowd of an aggressive type. Her behavior is determined by hatred of the object of aggression and is directed by random instigators.
The spontaneous behavior of people is provoked in some cases by spontaneous information - rumors. Rumors cover events not covered by the media and are a specific type of interpersonal communication, the content of which is captured by an audience subject to certain situational expectations and prejudices.
The regulatory mechanism of crowd behavior - collective unconsciousness - is a special class of mental phenomena, which, according to the ideas of psychoanalyst C. G. Jung, contains the instinctive experience of humanity. General a priori behavioral patterns, transpersonal patterns of behavior suppress the individual consciousness of people and cause genetically archaic behavioral reactions, “collective reflexes”, in the terminology of V. M. Bekhterev. Homogeneous, primitive assessments and actions unite people into a monolithic mass and sharply increase the energy of their one-act impulsive action. However, such actions become maladaptive in cases where the need for consciously organized behavior arises.
The crowd phenomenon and impulsive behavior patterns are widely used by totalitarian politicians, extremists and religious fanatics.
The predominance of one-sided interest in a social community can cause crowd-like patterns of behavior, a sharp division into “us” and “them,” and a primitivization of social relations.
Behavioral characteristics vary four types of crowd:
- random (occasional);
- expressive (jointly expressing common affective feelings - jubilation, fear, protest, etc.);
- conventional (based on some spontaneously formulated positions);
- acting, which is divided into aggressive, panicky (saving), acquisitive, ecstatic (acting in a state of ecstasy), rebel (indignant at the actions of the authorities).
Any crowd is characterized by a common emotional state and a spontaneously emerging direction of behavior; growing self-reinforcing mental infection - the spread of an elevated emotional state from one individual to another at the psychophysiological level of contact. The lack of clear goals and the organizational diffuseness of the crowd turn it into an object of manipulation. The crowd is always in an extremely excited pre-start, pre-start state; To activate it, only an appropriate trigger signal is needed.
One of the types of disorganized crowd behavior is panic - a group conflict emotional state that arises on the basis of mental infection in a situation of real or imaginary danger, with a lack of information necessary for reasonable decision-making.
Panic blocks the ability to adequately reflect the situation and rationally assess it, people’s actions become defensive and chaotic, consciousness sharply narrows, people become capable of extremely selfish, even asocial, actions. Panic occurs in a state of mental tension, in conditions of increased anxiety caused by the expectation of extremely difficult events (fire, famine, earthquakes, flooding, armed attack), in conditions of insufficient information about the sources of danger, the time of its occurrence and methods of counteraction. Thus, the residents of one village, expecting an attack by Turkish troops, fell into a state of panic when they saw the reflections of their fellow villagers’ braids in the distance.
The crowd can be brought out of a panic state only by a very strong counteracting stimulus, targeted, categorical commands from authoritative leaders, the presentation of brief reassuring information and an indication of real possibilities for exiting the critical situation that has arisen.
Panic is an extreme manifestation of spontaneous, impulsive behavior of people in the absence of their social organization, a state of mass affect that arises in response to a shocking circumstance. A crisis situation creates the need for immediate action, and their conscious organization is impossible due to insufficient information and guidance.
Using the example of people's behavior in a crowd, we see that the absence of social organization, a system of regulated norms and ways of behavior leads to a sharp decrease in the socio-normative level of people's behavior. People's behavior under these conditions is characterized by increased impulsiveness, subordination of consciousness to one actualized image, and narrowing of other spheres of consciousness.
Being in modern society, living in a big city, it is not so difficult to find yourself in a crowded place. A large public often gathers at parades and processions, at concerts and performances by pop stars, during various events and political speeches, in clubs, subways, and at public transport stops.
Danger of crowds does not always manifest itself immediately. People love to get together, jostle, shout slogans, and sing songs. But a cheerful, noisy company or a mass gathering does not always have a favorable mood. The danger of a crowd lies in its spontaneity and the power of influence on each individual. In order to return from the next event without bruises or fractures, let’s look at the basic principles of crowd behavior and safe behavior in crowds
Rally (English meeting - meeting) - a mass gathering of people to discuss topical issues of current life, in support of certain demands or to express solidarity or protest.
The main characteristic of the crowd is that it begins to live on its own, acquires its own character, its own style of behavior. There is something animalistic about it - a herd feeling, attack by a pack, collective defense against aggression.
Sociologists and psychologists distinguish three types of mass gatherings of people.
The first is a passive crowd, they also say “herd”. This type of crowd can be formed in a place where there is a large gathering of people: at a train station, at an exhibition, in a queue at a shopping mall, at a transport stop. All the people ended up there by accident and the crowd formed by them does not carry active actions. However, like any large gathering of people, it has a deeply embedded active potential. As soon as an event occurs that will affect a certain part of the cluster, people, bound by one desire, will begin to act as a single crowd.
Active type of crowd of people. It differs from a passive crowd of people in that this large group of people already carries charged emotions. That is, people came to this place specifically to support someone or express their attitude to an idea or an ongoing event in the world. People, being in a crowd of active people, support each other and are ready for real collective action. They, it seems to them, act for a common goal, together. . Such gatherings of people include rallies, attending large star concerts, marches in support of something or someone, etc.
The catalyst for action can be an external influence, for example, news just received or a speech from a person from the podium, or an internal process. The active type of mass gathering of people also includes a crowd at the time of a catastrophe or crash. This reaction of people greatly complicates rescue efforts. During times of danger and threat to life, a person’s consciousness narrows, the ability to think sensibly fades into the background, only reflexes, automatisms, and thoughtless physical actions manifest themselves.
The third type of crowd characteristic is aggressive. For a mass gathering of people, an aggressive type of behavior is the result of pre-planned actions of the event organizers, or a consequence of the development of an active crowd. An aggressive crowd of people can be called a crowd of looters, when, during a period of general weakening of self-awareness, the thirst for profit takes precedence over reason and the fear of being caught.
When going to a rally or other event with a large crowd of people, you should know whether the event is sanctioned by the authorities. Preliminary preparation depends on this information.
In Moscow, the organizers of a rally must submit a notification to the city administration 10–15 days before it starts (over 10 thousand participants - to the mayor, up to 10 thousand - to the prefect, up to 1 thousand - to the subprefect), which will indicate the purpose, form, location or routes of movement , start and end times, estimated number of participants, names, addresses, telephone numbers of organizers, etc. The authorities may ban a rally, march, demonstration or picketing within five days of receiving notification and send a written ban within two days.
If a rally is prohibited, then its unauthorized holding turns into an illegal event, which leads to an extreme situation.
But even if you are going to an authorized rally, you must follow the safety rules:
– tell your relatives where you are going and the approximate time of return;
– have identification documents with you;
– leave the children at home;
– do not take sharp or cutting objects with you, do without a tie, scarf, bag, glassware;
– unless absolutely necessary, do not take posters on poles and sticks, since they can be used in the fight as improvised means, and law enforcement officers can classify them as weapons;
– remove various badges and symbols from your clothes, if you are not a correspondent – do without a camera or camera;
- fasten all buttons.
When attending an event with a large crowd of people, you need to constantly use the most important personal safety tool – the event forecast.
Do not lose sight of the state of the crowd, the position on the flanks, the maneuvers of the security forces.
Rallies and demonstrations usually have their own topography. Analyze it from the very beginning. You must know whether a procession or a breakthrough is expected and where, where the police are stationed, where the most dangerous areas are (glass showcases, barriers, hatches, iron fences, bridges, etc.).
Mentally try to make a map of the rally with probable escape routes and emergency rescue routes through entrances, courtyards and alleys.
2. Do not stand near garbage containers, trash cans, cardboard boxes, baby strollers, suitcases or bags without the owner: it is unknown what is there and when it will explode. Do not step on bags or bags.
3. Do not approach aggressive groups that usually stand out at rallies. Do not try to get closer to the microphone or podium: experience shows that the outskirts of the rally are safer and relationships between people develop more rationally there.
4.If the police have begun a dispersal operation or there is a clash between officers and hooligans, and you happen to be nearby, do not lose calm and control over yourself. It is recommended to stand without making sudden movements, shout or run (while you can) - otherwise you may be mistaken for a hooligan and it will be difficult to prove anything.
With all your appearance you should express peacefulness. If you are detained, do not try to prove on the spot that you were here by chance.
It happens that when dispersing demonstrations, lacrimogenic substances are used (tear gases such as Cheremukha). They disintegrate in 1.5 - 2 hours. It is impossible to create a lethal concentration in the open air, but poisoning of varying degrees is possible. The mouth and nose can be protected with a handkerchief dipped in any liquid.
But these funds help only in the first minutes. If your eyes are affected, you need to blink quickly so that the tears wash away the chemical. In any case, the most reliable thing is to quickly leave the place where lacrimogenic substances are used if you do not have a gas mask with you.
During dispersal, panic and crowd flight are possible. If you are unable to move independently, then it makes sense to press yourself against the wall of a building or, at least, move away from the direction in which the bulk of people are moving.
And now about another danger that is not as obvious as others. Experience shows that a very likely thing at a rally or demonstration is to end up in a large political crowd or show.
If we recall the words of one figure who knew a lot about rallies: “A stable feeling is hatred. It is much more difficult to shake than an assessment based on scientific knowledge... The broad masses are imbued with the feminine principle: they understand only a categorical “yes” or “no”... The masses need a man with cuirassier boots who says: “This path is the right one! »
It is not worth reminding where the path of Adolf Hitler, who wrote these words in the late 20s, led the masses. Let us dwell only on some of the psychophysical features of mass demonstrations and rallies:
– extreme populism – simplicity of slogans, demands, decisions;
– a mandatory unifying state of the crowd (organizers use the following techniques: collective swaying, holding hands, chanting short slogans - sometimes two parts of the crowd take turns, general singing, clapping, jumping on the spot, etc.);
– the obligatory atmosphere of today’s victory (the fact of “victory” can be felt both by the joint overcoming of any obstacles - for example, a ban, and by the rally itself - “we have gathered!” or “there are so many of us gathered!”);
– almost complete shutdown of the analytical functions of the individual psyche. There is a hypothesis that a large dense group of people represents a new gigantic organism and the individual person in it almost does not belong to himself;
– sharply increasing emotional assessments and reactions (from pronounced hatred of “other people’s” ideas, people, to almost tearful love for “our own”).
In terms of the risk of mental instability, a rally, without exaggeration, can be compared with such extreme situations. Accordingly, the protection of the psyche should be carried out on the same scale.
After a rally, the question usually arises about the number of participants. For orientation, you can use the calculation per square meter of area: in summer - no more than three people, in winter - 1 - 2 people. Near the stands the density is higher, then decreases to 1 person per two square meters.
According to the police, in Moscow no more than 7-8 thousand people can gather near the Park of Culture, on Old Square with all its alleys - no more than 12 thousand, on Lubyanka with the crowd spreading to New Square and into the alleys - no more than 7 thousand. According to Moscow police specialists, during the entire multi-year rally period, more than 35 thousand people never gathered on Manezhnaya Square.
The most “protesting” year in Moscow was 1991 – 4,380 mass events took place in the city. In 1995 there were 3,792 of them, which was 8% less than in 1994.
Being in a crowd of people, jostling, pushing through the mass of people - a long-awaited meeting with friends awaits you. Look at the crowd from the side - your friends will give you a gift.
Imagine that the people around you are in a good mood. You greet everyone, shake hands left and right.
Interpretation of dreams from the Dream Book of Simeon ProzorovSubscribe to the Dream Interpretation channel!
Dream Interpretation - Big
A large and tall door, gate - portends wealth and nobility.
A large river with clean and clear water is a harbinger of great happiness.
A big fish fights, jumps - portends fame, glory.
A large tree unexpectedly breaks - portends trouble, misfortune.
If you are going to cut down a large tree, it portends big profits and material well-being.
Climbing a big tree means fame, fame, luck, happiness.
A basin, a large bowl - portends an increase in reserves, great happiness.
A large temple of ancestors means happiness and good luck in all matters.
There is a coffin in the large hall - it portends joy and peace.
Climbing a big tree means fame, fame, luck, happiness.
You see large and wide city walls - great wealth and much joy.
Driving along the highway and falling into a hole is a loss of wealth.
Leaves fall from a large tree - a happy event in the house.
Raking manure into a large pile means wealth, material well-being.
A man gives you a big bucket - a benefit.
INTRODUCTION
In everyday language, a “crowd” refers to a large number of people present in one place at the same time. Although even intuitively we would not use this word to describe a marching army unit or soldiers in an organized assault (as well as defending) a fortified point, an audience gathered at a conservatory for a symphony concert, crews working on a large construction site, employees of an institution at a planned trade union meeting, etc. etc. etc.
Terminologically, it is not entirely correct to call passers-by on a crowded city street a crowd. But something unusual happened on the street. Suddenly, buffoons appeared or artists gave a performance. Or, as happened in the good Soviet times, scarce goods were “thrown away” on a street counter. Or a person fell out of a window and was killed. Or it was raining heavily. Or - God forbid - a gang war began with shooting, a powerful explosion occurred... If the situation develops according to one of these scenarios, attractive, dramatic and even catastrophic, a special socio-psychological phenomenon may arise, which, with all its diversity forms, has common features that distinguish a crowd from organized forms of social behavior.
Main signs of a crowd
There are typical life situations in which numerous clusters of people (crowds) easily form. These include the following:
· natural disasters (earthquakes, major floods, fires),
· public transport and transport hubs (stations, metro, etc.),
· mass entertainment (sports matches, pop concerts, etc.),
· political actions (rallies, demonstrations, political elections, strikes and other protests),
· places of mass celebrations and recreation (stadiums, squares and city streets, premises and areas for large discos, etc.), etc.
Crowds of people that form in a variety of social situations nevertheless have many similar characteristics.
A crowd is usually called a gathering of people that, to one degree or another, corresponds to the following characteristics:
· multiplicity- as a rule, this is a large group of people, since in small groups typical psychological crowd phenomena arise with difficulty or do not arise at all;
· high contact, i.e., each person is at close range with others, actually entering their personal spaces;
· emotional excitement- typical psychological states of this group are dynamic, unbalanced states: increased emotional arousal, excitement of people, etc.;
· disorganization (spontaneity)- these groups most often form spontaneously, initially have weak organization, and if they have organization they can easily lose it;
· instability of goal- the greatest controversy arises around such a sign of the crowd as its integrity-purposelessness: a common goal for all in these groups is, as a rule, absent or, if present, is poorly understood by most people; in addition, goals can easily be lost, the original goals are often replaced by others, often fake etc. (therefore, when talking about aimlessness crowd as its property, this means the absence of a common, universally recognized goal).
Therefore, a crowd must be understood as a large gathering of people who are in direct contact with each other and in a state of heightened emotional arousal, characterized by their initial spontaneous formation (or loss of organization) and the absence of a common conscious goal for all (or its loss).
MECHANISMS OF CROWD BEHAVIOR
Two main mechanisms of crowd formation have been identified: gossip And emotional whirling(synonym - circular reaction).
Hearing - is the transfer of subject information through interpersonal communication channels.
Circular reaction - This is mutual infection, i.e. transfer of emotional state at the psychophysiological level of contact between organisms. Not only fun can circulate, but also, for example, boredom (if someone starts to yawn, those around them feel the same desire), as well as initially more sinister emotions: fear, rage, etc.
To better understand what a circular reaction is, it is advisable to compare it with communication- contact between people at the semantic level. During communication, there is one or another degree of mutual understanding, interpretation of the text, the participants in the process come to an agreement or do not come to an agreement, but in any case, everyone remains an independent person. Human individuality is formed in communication connections and largely depends on the variety of semantic channels in which a person is included.
On the contrary, emotional whirling erases individual differences. The role of personal experience, individual and role identification, and common sense is situationally reduced. The individual feels and reacts behaviorally “like everyone else.” Happening evolutionary regression: lower, historically more primitive layers of the psyche are updated.
“The conscious personality disappears,” G. Le Bon wrote on this occasion, “and the feelings of all the individual units that form the whole, called the crowd, take the same direction.” Therefore, “in a crowd there can only be an accumulation of stupidity, not intelligence.” The same observation can be found in the works of other researchers. For example, in 3. Freud we read: “It seems that it is enough for a large mass, a huge number of people, to be together for all the moral achievements of the individuals composing them to immediately dissipate, and in their place only the most primitive, the most ancient, the crudest psychological attitudes remain.” .
A person caught in an emotional whirlpool increases susceptibility to impulses, the source of which is located within the crowd and resonates with the dominant state, and at the same time decreases susceptibility to impulses from the outside. Accordingly, the barriers against any rational argument are strengthened. Therefore, at such a moment, an attempt to influence the masses with logical arguments may turn out to be untimely and simply dangerous. Here you need other techniques that are adequate to the situation, and if you don’t know them, then it’s better to stay away from the crowd.
The circular reaction is not a uniquely negative factor. It accompanies any mass event and group action: a joint viewing of a play or even a film, a friendly feast, a military attack (with shouts of “Hurray!”, warlike screaming and other attributes), a business or party meeting, etc. and so on. In the life of primitive tribes, the processes of mutual infection before battle or hunting played a vital role. As long as the emotional whirlpool remains within a certain measure that is optimal for each specific case, it serves to unite and mobilize and helps to strengthen the integral effectiveness of the group (psychologists call this fascination). But, exceeding the optimal measure, this factor results in opposite effects. The group degenerates into a crowd, which becomes less and less controllable through normative mechanisms and, at the same time, more and more easily susceptible to irrational manipulation.
The likelihood of a circular reaction increases sharply during periods of social tension in society associated with various kinds of crises, since in this case a significant number of people may experience similar emotions and their attention will be focused on common problems.
Types of Crowds
Different types of crowds are distinguished based on which of the above characteristics they correspond to and which they do not, or what new specific characteristics appear in them.
According to the level (or degree) of their activity, crowds are divided into passive and active (see Fig. 1).
Rice. 1.
Random crowd - an unorganized community of people that arises in connection with some unexpected event, such as a traffic accident, fire, fight, etc.
Usually a random crowd is formed by so-called onlookers, i.e. persons who experience a certain need for new experiences and thrills. The main emotion in such cases is people's curiosity. A random crowd can quickly gather and disperse just as quickly. Usually it is not numerous and can unite from several dozen to hundreds of people, although there are also individual cases when a random crowd consisted of several thousand.
Conventional crowd - a crowd whose behavior is based on explicit or implicit norms and rules of behavior - conventions.
Such a crowd gathers on the occasion of a pre-announced event, such as a rally, political demonstration, sporting event, concert, etc. In such cases, people are usually motivated by a well-directed interest and must follow norms of behavior appropriate to the nature of the event. Naturally, the behavior of spectators at a symphony orchestra concert will not coincide with the behavior of admirers of a rock star during her performance and will be radically different from the behavior of fans at a football or hockey match.
Expressive crowd - a community of people distinguished by the special power of mass manifestation of emotions and feelings (love, joy, sadness, sadness, grief, indignation, anger, hatred, etc.).
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.
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. During the Soviet Union, people would have formed a queue three months in advance to touch the miracle...
As a rule, it is easily formed, easily disintegrated, 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
Mass pogroms of shops 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 jewel 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 disgraceful...
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 is 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 evil 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:
- the crowd may not run away, but rather go on the attack (unlikely, but also taken into account)
- 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:
- maintain composure and composure in any situation
- do not go against the flow, do not try to stop (convince) the crowd. Don't attract attention.
- 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.