How Crowd Psychology Played Out At The Capitol

[sjastro]

Not as simple as the IQ of the mob being lower than the individual.

When people participate in a mob, they do so in part because the group provides some protection that wouldn’t be afforded to an individual acting the same way – a concept demonstrated Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/...he-science-behind-why-people-follow-the-crowd

 

[SelfSim]

From the article and quite a succinct summary I think:

In our evolutionary past, our ancestors were under constant threat. Keen awareness of others helped our ancestors survive in a dangerous and uncertain world. Modern humans have inherited such adaptive behaviors.

These behaviors include banding together and promoting social harmony. This includes not dissenting from the group. In a hunter-gatherer group, being ostracized or banished could have been a death sentence.

Thoughtful reflection on social influence may lead us to a greater awareness of ourselves and our relationships with others.

 

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

Not as simple as the IQ of the mob being lower than the individual.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/...he-science-behind-why-people-follow-the-crowd

Yes, this psychology has been used in the UK by the government's 'Nudge' behavioural unit, where the idea is to modify public behaviour without coercion. A sign that indicates that a large percentage of the population have acted positively in some context spurs others to follow suit.

Also, the subconscious influence of apparently not being alone, or of being watched, has been used to reduce petty crime - by things as simple as putting a poster with a face - or just eyes - in the vicinity (cardboard or inflatable police persons are even more effective, but will be stolen if not behind glass!).

 

[SelfSim]

Its interesting to see the impact of the breaking up (via the removal of certain key voices) from social media platforms. (Ie: I notice, just this morning, complaints coming from some political leaders who have made most use of them).

The existence of the platform technologies, themselves, obviously play a huge, yet quite subtle, role in facilitating the positive psychological reinforcement factor.

I guess we, here, are also all part of this most significant component of society's nowaday collective psychological reinforcement feedback loops too, eh?

 

[sjastro]

• The ‘Shared Psychosis’ of Donald Trump and His Loyalists

 

[SelfSim]

The ‘Shared Psychosis’ of Donald Trump and His Loyalists

Its interesting that the author distinguishes 'three steps for healing' when this psychology is evident. All of these seem to be currently underway, as follows:

(1) Removal of the offending agent (the influential person with severe symptoms).

- Impeachment and future disbarment from holding (hierarchical) positions of empowerment.

(2) Dismantling systems of thought control—common in advertising but now also heavily adopted by politics.

- Removal from social media platforms and withdrawal of future funding by private enterprises.

And (3) fixing the socioeconomic conditions that give rise to poor collective mental health in the first place.

The proposed Biden relief package, maybe(?)

Its also interesting to note that if this is actually science (I'm always doubtful about this when it comes to psychology theories), then some kind of testable prediction should be produced, no(?)
However, the best this author can come up with is:

.. we should consider the president, his followers and the nation as an ecology, not in isolation. Hence, what he does after this presidency depends a great deal on us ... We need to remember that he is more a follower than a leader, and we need to place constraints from the outside when he cannot place them from within.

Group (mass) behaviour over forthcoming few days would seem to be of critical importance to the prediction, then.
(Which is pretty obvious, from a common sense based perspective .. forget the theory, I guess).

Interestingly, this same aspect is also critical when it comes to the measurables of pandemic and climate change predictions.

 

[sjastro]

Its also interesting to note that if this is actually science (I'm always doubtful about this when it comes to psychology theories), then some kind of testable prediction should be produced, no(?).

According to Albert, psychology is more open to theoretical considerations than cosmology.