The Power of Groups

Collective Behaviour
▶ Social behaviour by a large group that may not reect
existing rules, institutions, and structures of society
▶ The group engages in this kind of behaviour to accomplish
a specic goal or outcome
▶ The collective is not interested in establishing personal
relationships
▶ Often spontaneous, usually in response to a social crisis or
natural disaster
▶ Two theories on collective behaviour are the convergence
theory and the rational decision theory
Convergence Theory
▶ assumes that when a large group of like-minded
individuals comes together, collective action is the most
common outcome
▶ Individuals are behaving according to their own beliefs
but do so with the protection of others
▶ explains why riots and racial violence occur
▶ Example: Civil RIghts Movement or Nazi Party’s hold over
Germany during WWII

What is a fad or craze that has influenced

your generation, and describe the
collective behaviour connected to it?
Rational Decision Theory
▶ Assumes people make rational decisions whether or not to
participate in collective behaviour
▶ Motivating factor is based on self-interest
▶ According to sociologist Mark Granovetter, individuals have a
specific number or percentage of other people who must already
be engaged in the group before they will join (this is called the
individual’s threshold)
Where have we seen an example of this before?
▶ The individual tends to favour larger groups over smaller ones and
more organized groups over less organized groups
▶ There is also the sense of not being held responsible because
everyone else is taking part in the activity. This could be a strong
motivator for people.
Prosocial Behaviour

▶ A form of altruism in which individuals or

groups demonstrate empathy toward and
care for the welfare of others without benefit
to themselves
▶ “Good Samaritan”
▶ e.g. natural disasters tend to bring out feelings
of empathy for the victims or mass public grief
(Hurricane Katrina) (Syrian child refugee)
Gangs
▶ A group of people associating for antisocial and often criminal purposes and
activities, but it has the same characteristics as other groups
▶ Members hold specic roles - leader, hard core gang member (the elite, who
have totally committed), gang member, associates (afliated with gang
members but haven’t been formally initiated, may be referred to as prospects)
▶ Expected to behave according to certain rules (completion of initiation
activities, commit acts of violent or deviant behaviour ex. theft, murder, drug
dealing, etc.)
▶ Gangs can hold a great deal of inuence over members, provide identity, a
sense of power and purpose, protection
▶ Loyalty and respect for rules is the most important rule
▶ Gangs tend to target youth how have unpleasant home lives, are poor, and
lack education and employment
▶ Often gang members become estranged from their prior life, unless they grew
up in the gang
 Cliques

▶ A clique is usually defined as "a small, exclusive group of friends or associates.“

▶ Cliques, unlike many other social groups, seldom allow others to join and make it a practice of excluding
others.
▶ By about 10th grade, most students are typically firmly labeled as members of one group or another by
their peers.
▶ For many teens, the clique is their first important social group outside of their family. Some teens become
part of cliques that are very different from their family - as a form of rebellion or as part of a search for their
own identities. Others tend to be members of cliques that are like their family in terms of values and
attitudes.
▶ Cliques can be an important reference group for members - providing them with a model for beliefs,
values, opinions, and behavior. Clique members may learn to follow the actions and attitudes of the
group without thinking of the consequences for themselves or others. Cliques can make you act a certain
way in order to fit in - not the way you would normally act.
▶ For their members, cliques are an in-group. For everyone else, they are an out-group. It is not uncommon
for tensions to develop between members of different cliques that come to see each other as "rivals" or
even "enemies.
▶ Cliques often develop and enforce conformity to certain norms of appearance and attitudes. This can
prevent one from being an individual and exploring relationships with members of different groups.
Crowds
▶ Crowds are large numbers of people, in close proximity, gathered for a
specific reason.
▶ Types of crowds:
1. Conventional crowd: large group of people gathered for a clear
purpose who behave according to expectation (e.g. town meeting)
2. Casual crowd: a group of people in the same place at the same time
but who do not have a common goal (e.g. shoppers at a sale)
3. Expressive crowd: a large number of people at an event who display
emotion and expression (e.g. baseball game or concert)
4. Acting crowd: a group of people fuelled by a single purpose or goal
(e.g. peaceful protesters)
5. Mob: a disorderly crowd of people (e.g. riot)
 Smart Mob
▶ A large group of strangers who use electronic media to organize and
stage surprise public gatherings
▶ Sociologists are interested in the impact of technology on social
relationships
Mass Public Grief
▶ A form of prosocial behaviour
▶ Emile Durkheim was the first social
scientist to recognize the power of
collective solidarity. He used the term
in relation to a community’s response
to crime. Collective solidarity could
be seen through a community’s
ability to overcome the negative
consequences of crime.
▶ Mass public grief is the collective
experience of grieving publicly for
someone whom most of the mourners
have never met.
Fear and Collective Behaviour

▶ Mass hysteria: the widespread irrational reaction to a perceived

danger
▶ Usually accompany acute medical or health issues (e.g. SARS,
Ebola, Zika Virus and now Covid - 19)
▶ Integration propaganda*
Investigating Elections*

How Propaganda Is Destroying Democracy | Breaking The Vote - YouTube