There are many theories of crowd behavior, however, we will discuss the three most eminent theories, which are as follow, contagion theory, emigrant norm theory and convergent theory. Crowd are common in every society, you can see crowd in stadiums, amusement parks, shopping malls, train stations and bus stations. Crowd can be defined as, large number of people gathered at one place for a shared purpose. Crowd behavior is the behavior of individuals within the crowd.
Contagion Theory
A French social psychologist Gustave Le Bon, is considered as the father of “social psychology”; which is the study of human behavior in crowd. He wrote a book in 1895; “The crowd”, in which he explained the contagion theory. According to Le Bon, an individual behavior within a crowd is the outcome of, the influence of crowd. Moreover, he says that, an individual don’t think rationally within a crowd, he forgets himself his personality and personal responsibilities. People within the crowd think that, they cannot be recognized, this sense of anonymity influence them to act irrationally, emotionally and make irrational decisions. People cannot make rational decisions or think rationally within the crowd, they get caught in the frenzy of the crowd. In crowd no one care what the other person is doing or thinking? So, the personal believes of an individual is taken over by the collective believes. These collective believes are formed by suggestions or spread by people in the crowd. Le Bon says that, collective believes grow with time like a contagious disease. Le Bon was an aristocrat, some researchers believe that, his social status clouded his judgment concerning crowd therefore, his contagion theory is considered biased.
Convergence Theory
According to contagion theory, crowd influence the behavior of an individual with in a crowd. However, convergence theory says that, individuals gather at one place intentionally because they share same objective and motives. In other words, crowd behavior is not spontaneous but planned, aimed to achieve certain goals and objectives. An individual may believe strongly in a cause but, does not take any action because he thinks, his action alone would not make any difference. In crowd individual act out strongly because they believe, there is power in numbers. When people gather around for the same cause or expected change, they believe that the goal is achievable.
Emergent Norm Theory
R.H Turner and Lewis M. Killian sociologists of 20th century explain crowd behavior, through emergent norm theory. Theory says that, the behavior of people in the crowd are guided by the norms. Those norms are formed by the members of the crowd. Norms are not formed before the formation of the crowd but, during the crowd formation. Moreover, when people gather at one place and start interacting with one another, it leads to the formation of crowd norms. Turner says that, the motives and actions of crowd members differ from one another. Some of the members within a crowd are impulsive and some are passive supporters. Norms of the crowd are developed in a course of time, when group members interact with one another and by the actions of few activists in the crowd. Those norms are the guiding principle if confusion prevails in the crowd. Whether the crowd is violent or peaceful, there are some activist who guide the members, when to applause or throw stones or shout. But it is not necessary that every member do as they are told by the activists.
