Chapter 23 Sociology Terms

Acting Crowd

Collectively motivated by an intense, single-minded purpose, audience rushing the doors fleeing a burning theater

Contagion Theory

Contagion theory maintains that crowds can exert a hypnotic effect over their members. The anonymity within a crowd encourages people to abandon personal responsibility, which stirs up emotions and drives people toward irrational, even violent, action.

Expressive Crowd

Forms around an event with emotional appeal, New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square

Emergent-Norm Theory

Ralph Turner and Lewis Killian developed the emergent-norm theory, of crowd dynamics. This view represents the use of symbolic-interaction paradigm. Crowd behavior is neither as irrational as contagion theory suggests, nor as deliberate as convergence theory implies. Crowd behavior reflects the desires of participants but is also guided by norms that emerge as the situation unfolds.

Convergence Theory

The idea behind convergence theory is that people of like mind come together for a particular purpose and form a crowd. Crowd behavior is not irrational; rather, people in crowds express existing beliefs and values.

mass hysteria

a form of dispersed collective behavior by which people react to a real or imagined event with irrational, frantic, and often self-destructive behavior

panic

a form of localized collective behavior by which people react to a threat or other stimulus with irrational, frantic, and often self-destructive behavior

mob

a highly emotional crowd that pursues a violent or destructive goal

collectivity

a large number of people whose minimal interaction occurs in the absence of well-defined and conventional norms

riot

a social eruption that is highly emotional, violent, and undirected

fashion

a social pattern favored by a large number of people

crowd

a temporary gathering of people who share a common focus of attention and who influence one another

collective behavior

activity involving a large number of people, often spontaneous and sometimes controversial

fad

an unconventional social pattern that people embrace briefly but enthusiastically

mass behavior

collective behavior among people dispersed over a wide geographical area

propaganda

information presented with the intention of shaping public opinion

Casual Crowd

loose collection of people who interact little, people at a beach

Conventional Crowd

results from deliberate planning, interaction conforms to norms appropriate for the situation, a college lecture

gossip

rumor about people's personal affairs

rumor

unsubstantiated information spread informally, often by word of mouth

opinion

widespread attitudes about controversial issues