Transcript of Rohall 3e ppt ch11
- 1. Social Psychology Sociological Perspectives THIRD EDITION
Rohall, Milkie, Lucas Chapter Eleven Collective Behavior 2014,
2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 2. Background to Collective Behavior Collective behavior is
action of people in groups or crowds, usually as a reaction to an
event or to express a common sentiment This behavior typically
includes situations in which individuals act differently in group
contexts than they would otherwise Collective behavior can take the
form of protests, riots, or panics, among other things 2014, 2011,
2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 3. Differentiating Collective Behavior, Action, and Social
Movements Sociologists have historically used the expression
collective behavior to refer to most collective events By the
1980s, sociologists generally began to use the term collective
action to reflect the seemingly purposive nature of peoples
behavior Another concept related to collective behavior and action
is social movements, collective action designed to produce new
social orders 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved.
- 4. SI: Constructing Collective Behavior Some of the earliest
work in collective behavior emphasized the emotional side of large
crowds with examples from the French Revolution Interactionists
emphasize both emotional and rational ways that collective events
are constructed 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved.
- 5. SI: Mass Hysteria Theory Gustave LeBon probed the workings
of crowds and wrote that all crowds exert an inherently negative
influence on people This thinking is the basis of mass hysteria
theory in which individuals in crowds lose their ability to think
and act rationally LeBon describes groups influence on their
members as a rapidly transmitted, contagious mental unity, a sense
of a shared emotional bond that emerges whenever people interact in
a group 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights
reserved.
- 6. SI: Ingredients of Contagion The three main ingredients that
lead to contagion include: Intensity of behavior Homogeneity of
mood and action Irrational behavior With these three ingredients,
the crowd is unable to sustain focus and moves rapidly from one
object or idea to another, making it easy to produce almost any
behavior 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights
reserved.
- 7. 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights
reserved.
- 8. SI: Circular Reaction Herbert Blumer proposed that
remarkable events dispose people to gather together and then to
anxiously move about in a seemingly aimless and random fashion, a
process called milling Intense milling can transform human
interaction as people enter an interpretive phase If the
interpretive phase of interaction is interrupted, people become
suggestible and irrational, producing a circular reaction 2014,
2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 9. SI: Collective Identity Collective identity refers to an
individuals sense of connection with a larger community or group
Collective identity is important in every stage of collective
behavior Movements may emerge because individuals from varying
backgrounds develop a sense of connection resulting from shared
frustration over an issue 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education,
Inc. All rights reserved.
- 10. SI: Collective Identity Blumer went on to create a more
elaborate classification of of crowds Acting crowds develop a
focus, or goal, and act with unity to achieve the goal. An
expressive crowd lacks a goal and is primarily just a setting for
tension release A public is an aggregate of people who are
concerned with a specific issue. A mass is composed of anonymous
individuals from many social strata which is only loosely organized
2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights
reserved.
- 11. SI: Rational Choice in Collective Behavior Most
sociological studies or accounts of mass hysteria turn out to be
reports of events that were first identified as hysteria by police,
firefighters, and others Only a small minority of participants in
collective events typically report any hysterical symptoms As a
result, other perspectives and theories have emphasized the
rational behaviors among group members 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 12. SI: Emergent Norm Theory The emergent norm theory of
collective behavior focuses on how individuals come to accept the
restraints imposed by a group during an event This perspective also
assumes that individuals enter groups with unique attitudes and
perspectives, a feature of the crowd called differential expression
Individuals may change their attitudes over time but this is a
relatively rational process 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education,
Inc. All rights reserved.
- 13. SI: Types of Event Participants Behavior in collective
events, depends, in part, on the type of participants at the event
There are several different types of participants involved in most
collective events: Ego-involved participant has a strong personal
commitment to the issue Concerned participant has some concern over
goal but no personally commitment Insecure participant seeking
direction from the 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved. group Curiosity seeker motivated by curiosity
- 14. SI: Value-Added Theory Another major theoretical
perspective in the study of collective behavior is value-added
theory From this perspective, there are different types of
collective behavior and several social structural determinants of
collective behavior. To fully understand the causes of an event,
according to value-added theory, you need to distinguish the types
of collective behavior. 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
- 15. Types of Collective Behavior Value-added theory describes
five types of collective behavior: Panic: when large groups are
overwhelmed with a common fear Craze: when large groups become
obsessed with a product, behavior, or idea. Hostile outbursts: any
type of mass violence or killings Norm-oriented social movements:
movements to change the way things are regulated in society
Value-oriented social movements: attempts to change the social
order of society 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved.
- 16. SI: Determinants of Collective Behavior According to
value-added theory, there are five determinants of collective
behavior: Structural conduciveness Structural strain Generalized
belief Mobilization for action Action of social control Each
determinant of collective behavior must be present for collective
action to take place 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
- 17. SI: Perception Control Theory Perception control theory is
based on the premise that people must be able to monitor and
interpret one anothers behavior for collective action to occur
There are three sources of perception control input: Independent
instructions Interdependent instruction Organizational instruction
Each form of instruction occurs naturally in different types and
stages of collective behavior 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 18. SSP: The Structure of Crowds and Social Movements From a
social structure and personality perspective, society provides the
strains, resources, and limitations that help or limit individuals
ability to change the system through social movements Researchers
also examine individuals behaviors during collective events 2014,
2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 19. SSP: Resource Mobilization Theory According to resource
mobilization theory, movements are a product of the interaction
between the social conditions that lead people to want change and
resources available to make changes This theory emphasizes how
groups, not individuals, interact to produce social movements in
society Individuals may formalize groups to bring about social
change; these groups are referred to as social movement
organizations 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved.
- 20. SSP: Political Process Theory The political process theory
examines the interaction of competing interests and opportunity
structures in groups decisions and ability to produce social change
A group may want to produce some change in society but must compete
with other groups with dissimilar interests Under this schema,
researchers must incorporate the multiple social conditions and
groups that can influence the development of social movements 2014,
2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 21. SSP: Phases of Collective Behavior Research in social
movements has developed to the point where we can divide social
processes into phases: Assembling phase - a time when people come
together into the same place at the same time Gathering phase -
behaviors occurring during an event Dispersal phase - behaviors
leading to the end of a social movement gathering 2014, 2011, 2007
by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 22. SSP: The Assembling Phase The assembling phase refers to
the factors that bring people together into the same place at the
same time Research shows that most people learn about social
movements from their friends, family, and acquaintances Generally,
people who have no other obligations and have easy access to the
site of the meeting are more likely to participate 2014, 2011, 2007
by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 23. SSP: The Gathering Phase Most large gatherings are
comprised of small clusters of friends and family Individuals tend
to form lines to access various services or events Other behaviors
include the development of an arc or ring around performers or
speakers and the use of certain noises and gestures Symbols are
very important to such gatherings 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 24. SSP: The Dispersal Phase There are different ways in which
people leave a gathering: Routine dispersals - in which
participants leave a gathering in a rational, orderly fashion
Coerced dispersals - situations in which a third party attempts to
break up a group Emergency dispersals - occur during emergency
situations such as fires or explosions Research shows that people
rarely act without reason, even during emergency dispersals 2014,
2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 25. 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights
reserved.
- 26. SSP: Size and Media Coverage of Events Researchers over the
last 30 years have tried to assess the size and scope of social
movements Most protests and marches are small in nature Most do not
involve civil disobedience Smaller protests are least likely to be
reported, even though they represent the majority of them 2014,
2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 27. SSP: Collective Memory Collective behavior can be caused by
or provoke intense feelings and beliefs Collective memory refers to
a shared belief about a person, an event or interaction, or an
object Social psychologists study how we develop collective
memories in a similar manner as collective behavior, examining the
conditions that produce spontaneous thoughts or feelings at the
same time 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights
reserved.
- 28. GP: Group Processes and Collective Behavior Scholars in
sociologys group processes tradition are particularly interested in
collective action in terms of how it relates to structural power
From this perspective, collective action has the ability to
mitigate power differences that are based in structural positions
2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights
reserved.
- 29. Figured 11.1 Model of Power Distribution. 2014, 2011, 2007
by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 30. GP: Coalitions People and groups can collectively work
together to limit the power of other people are or groups A
coalition is an alliance of actors (i.e., people, organizations)
formed for the purpose of achieving some goal Research in the group
processes tradition indicates that people will be likely to form
coalitions when they are faced with large power disparities, and
also that these coalitions can be successful 2014, 2011, 2007 by
Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 31. Figure 11.2 Model of Coalition. 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 32. GP: The Power and Weaknesses of Coalitions The biggest
limitation to successful coalitions is the free-rider problem, when
some actors can reap the benefits of a group effort without
incurring the costs A social dilemma is a situation whereby if
every person acts in his or her own best interests, the results
will be bad for the group These dynamics are important to social
movements because they help explain the success of collective
action 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights
reserved.
- 33. Chapter 11: Bringing It All Together The study of
collective behavior includes a myriad of approaches to explaining
individuals behavior in large groups Interactionists emphasize the
transformative power of crowds The social structure and personality
approach emphasizes the structural conditions that influence
collective behavior Group processes scholars study the development
and success of coalitions 2014, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education,
Inc. All rights reserved.