Conditions for Collective Conditions for Collective BehaviorBehavior

Collective BehaviorCollective Behavior

• It is essentially an attempt by people to alter their environment when they are under conditions of uncertainty, threat or strain (according to Neil Smesler).

• Neil Smesler argues that collective behavior involves six basic conditions and will only occur if all six are met:

Structural ConducivenessStructural Conduciveness

• This term refers to the surrounding conditions that make a particular form of collective behavior possible in the first place

Structural StrainsStructural Strains

• Any social condition that places strain on people – poverty, conflict, discrimination, uncertainty about their future encourages them to make a collective effort to relieve the problem.

Generalized BeliefGeneralized Belief

• To provoke collective behavior, people must also develop some general belief about their situation by identifying the problem, forming their opinions about it, and define appropriate responses.

Precipitating FactorsPrecipitating Factors

• Even if the preceding conditions are present, collective behavior does not “just happen.”

• Some events are necessary to trigger a response.

Mobilization in ActionMobilization in Action

• Collective behavior will not occur unless people join in the action

Failure of Social ControlFailure of Social Control

• Social control may prevent an outburst of collective behavior. However, social control mechanism may be too weak to prevent the behavior; or they may be counterproductive and magnify the behavior.

Martian Invasion of EarthMartian Invasion of Earth

• Happened in 1983 when a radio dramatization of H.G. Well’s novel the War of the World was broadcast in the New York area

• Although the radio announcer had made the fictional nature of the program clear at the outset, people who tuned in late heard “on spot” description of Martians wreaking havoc. They took what they heard as fact, not fiction.

• The result was mass hysteria and even outright panic, involving perhaps as many as 1 million of the 6 million people of the broadcast

• Some people hid in their basement. Others bundled their children in their cars and drove as fast as they could away from the scene of the supposed invasion. Others called their relatives to bid farewell. Others simply prayed and waited for the inevitable to happen.

• Crowds excitedly gathered in public places, and fresh rumors were generated.

• One of the reasons why the radio broadcast caused mass hysteria was that “the bulletin format with comments from supposed scientific experts and public officials gave a certain credibility to the event.”

• The broadcast also took place in the pre-television era when people relied on the radio for up-to-the minute news.