COLLECTIVE

BEHAVIOR
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COLLECTIVE
BEHAVIOUR
We are guided by norms and values which
make our behavior patterned, recurrent,
and settled. We do things the way they are
supposed to be done. However, despite
these standards of behavior, we encounter
situations where norms do not apply.
These types of behavior that are not
guided by group norms are called
collective behavior.

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It is a kind of group behavior characterized by
spontaneous development of form and
organization, which contradict or reinterpret the
norms of the group. It refers to conduct which
does not reflect existing social structure (laws,
conventions, and institutions) but emerges in a
spontaneous way. Forms of social behavior in
which the usual convention cease to guide social
actions and people collectively transcend, bypass,
or subvert institutional patterns and structures.
Refers to ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that
develop among a large number of people which
are relatively spontaneous and unstructured. It
designates the study of relatively unstructured
social situations and their products, such as
crowds, riotism revivals, rumor, public opinions,
fads and social movements.

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Collective behavior, a third form of action, takes place when norms are
absent or unclear, or when they contradict each other
Explanations and Theoretical
Formulations about Collective Behavior
• Convergence Perspective –
This explanation is premise on the idea that
human behavior is determined by forces
within the individual.
• Emergent Norm Perspective –
It states that collective behavior is not
characterized by unanimity but by
differences in expressions and emotions.
•Emergent Norm Perspective
it states that collective behavior is not
characterized by unanimity but by differences in
expressions and emotions. Proponents assume that
collective behavior is guided by emergent norms.

•Smelser's Value Added Approach

1. Structural Conduciveness
2. Structural Strain
3. Generalized Belief
4. Precipitating Factors in the form of Dramatic
events.
5. Mobilization of participants to join the action
after the Precipitation
6. Ineffectiveness of the social control.
 Conventionalized
Casual Crowd Crowds
TYPES OF •
•
Spontaneous
Loosely organized
• established regular ways
of behaving
CROWDS • very momentary
type
• Examples: crowd such as
audiences, ball games,
• Examples: people boxing bouts.
gathered around a
bargain counter, a
celebrity.

Acting crowds
• This is the type most observed
by sociologists. This is an active,
volatile group of excited persons Expressive
whose attention is focused on a Crowds
controversial or provocative • rhythmic activity,
issue which arouses action, if not intense emotional
indignation. contagion, and
• Examples: Riots, mobs, panic, emotional release.
unruly strikes and rallies. Panic • Examples: major
• These are sports events
situations in which
people are largely
affected by fear.
• Examples:
stampedes;
disaster situations.
 OTHER TYPES OF
COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOUR

• The Audience
• The Masses
• The Public
• Rumors and Gossips
• Fashion, Fades and Crazes
• Disaster Behavior
• Public Opinion

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IMPORTANT
NOTE:
Collective Behavior VS Group Behavior
Collective behavior involves limited and short-
lived social interaction while groups tend to
remain together longer collective behavior has
no clear social boundaries; anyone can be a
member of the collective while group
membership is usually more discriminating
collective behavior generates weak and
unconventional norms while groups tend to
have stronger and more conventional norms
 SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF
COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR
Collective behavior plays an important part in the process of
social change. Collective behavior is a result of social change,
which promotes non-institutional courses of action with a
normative justification. Developments in technology and other
changes like urbanization, industrialization, increase in
population, and the mixture of diverse ethnic groups open up
new self-conceptions and create new value perspectives which
challenge traditional norms and values.

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 Collective behavior becomes a vehicle for the release of

SUMMARY aroused feelings of accumulated tensions, anxieties, and

discontent as manifested in the acting and expressive crowd.
Social movements lead to basic changes in the social
structure and policies. Labor movements have succeeded in
influencing legislation favorable to workers.
The women’s movement which has advocate for equal rights
for women. Widespread collective behavior becomes a
vehicle for change when diverse cultures interact and supply
new values around which collective behavior can become
focused.
The crowd may develop into a sect, the public into a
political or interest group, and the mass into a cult. Social
movements may result in new institutions with new and
radical values or, in a few cases, in the preservation of the
social order. Collective behavior may produce new cultural
directions and establish new folkways, mores, and values.

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THANK YOU
Presented By:
Laiba Sadaf

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