What Is Collective Behavior?

Collective behavior, a special kind of social interaction. In modern society, in certain special occasions, a kind of random interaction phenomenon based on the scene at the time, such as fashion, fashion, commotion, etc. Sociologists call the collective behavior or collective behavior of a group of people who are stimulated or influenced by a certain factor. Broadly speaking, the common behavior of many people in the process of social interaction is collective behavior.

Collective behavior refers to the behavior of many people without a clear purpose and action plan when crowds are gathered and not controlled by existing social norms. Some people in society respond to certain general influences or stimuli. The types of this behavioral response are interconnected, quite similar, but relatively loose. ^[1]

1. There are many people. It was made by many people who took the same action at the same time.

2. Unorganized. It is usually spontaneous, irrational, fickle, and rarely in equilibrium.

3. Spontaneity: The people participating in the collective behavior are voluntary, and the entire collective behavior infects each other in a crowd gathering situation, and spurs on.

4. Fanaticism: Members in collective behaviors lack emotional reason, often using unconventional ways such as running and calling.

5. Transient: The collective behavior is short in duration and fast in gathering and dispersing. Its main purpose is to cope with unexpected events.

6. Actors are interdependent. In collective behavior, individuals do not act independently, but are interdependent and influence each other.

7. The purpose is unclear. The goals and expectations of people participating in collective behavior are relatively vague and not very clear about the surrounding situation.

8. Non-structural. Collective behavior goes beyond the social organization structure and behavior norms and is not subject to it. Mobilizing the power of collective behavior is the collective emotion and common concern. ^[2]

1. Environmental conditions: One category is material conditions such as public places where people gather, and the other is necessary social conditions.

2. Structural pressure: refers to

Group behaviors occur mostly in public, and those who are disturbed by environmental stress are easily involved. In modern society, rapid changes will lead to more social structural unconformity, many people are in a state of restlessness, and the popularization of social life is prone to collective behavior.

The occurrence and development of collective behavior usually need to go through the following stages in turn:

1. Contact and friction. When crowds gather, people are close to each other, and their bodies are in direct contact, rubbing, crowding, and colliding with each other, creating conditions for emotional infection.

Collective behavior is different from group behavior. Group behavior refers to the transformation of people's behavior from individual behavior to group behavior in social interactions involving multiple people.

The events generated by group behavior are often recurring regular events, and various social management institutions and systems are mainly set up for such regular events. The collective behavior is caused by unconventional events. Therefore, the impact of collective behavior on society cannot be ignored