MOB PSYCHOLOGY.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 260, 2 November 1929, Page 18 (Supplement)

MOB PSYCHOLOGY.

IN A CROWD WE ARE DIFFERENT.

CASTE SLOGANS AND IMPULSES

ASPECTS OF MASS MENTALITY.

The following interesting lecture was recently delivered by Professor Anathon Aall, who occupies the Chair' of Philosophy in the University of Oslo, on the subject of "Mob Psychology":— Recent times have produced a new branch of science,' known as Social Psychology, the object of which is to study the behaviour of man as a member of a 'social group or crowd, as distinct from his behaviour when alone! Of course, the individual rarely stands completely isolated from his fellows. This is perhaps only the case when a man experiences a great moment ..of genius: "when he is < inspired. There is a constant mutual interaction between society and the individual. The influence that individual men have upon social groups goes to make history; for according to some history has no other function than to produce great men.

There can be no doubt that man as a member of a group, changes his whole mental outlook. He is constantly asking himself: "What are the, others doing?" and he thinks to himself, unless he is a man of outstanding mental gifts: "Ah, I must do likewise." But one may walk in a crowded street, and still be completely oneself.; A formal gathering is not unnecessarily a group. There arises the question as to what constitutes a group, and what a crowd. The members of organised groups each pursue some definite conscious aims; there is a system of congenial wills; there is spiritual uniformity; the members of a 'group have, many ideas in common, and there is some 'sort of traditional discipline at' work. Thus arises the phenomenon of "esprit de corps." We have military castes, and class distinctions. The members of a caste are supposed to exert strict moral control over each other; they-must not "let down", their class, or their side, .as the case may be. The attitude of. the individual to national, affairs may be likened to that of ants and bees. There is a large element of instinct. .The slogan "all, for one and one for all" i? carried out to some extent even in crowds. If we see a crowd in the street we are to ask the -nearest bystander what it is,all about. 'We take it for granted that everybody in the vicinity is concentrating his mind upon the same thing which is 'of interest to us at that particular moment. At such moments we may say that our primeval instincts are at work. The history, of religion . provides many examples ■of the (folly that can be engendered in a 'crowd. The. influence of crowd psychology upon the individual is evidenced by widely differing phenomena as epidemics of religious mania, and St. Vitus' dance. Especially women and children are liable to be carried away'by the impulse of the mob. Inherited Tendencies Revived.

Men, when, in a crowd, are very theatrically inclined. During the twelfth century, there was a mania for encouraging children between eight and ten years to act as prophets. Half of them were lost to their parents and never returned home. ' Crowd enthusiasm knows no bounds. During the. first half, of, the seventeenth century, there was a universal mania for tulips. Everybody spoke ,bf .tulips, tulips, tulips. Tulip bulbs attained a value equal to that of diamonds, in some cases. Everybody became a dealer in bulbs. Jesus is not the only great leader who has been a martyr to crowd : enthusiasm. - Men become as it were bewitched by the idea that the will of the crowd must be carried out. it is in crowds that inherited tendencies, innate instincts, become re-activated. The investment of power in a cfowd results in an alteration in the feeling of responsibility of the i individual. The very fact: that those around him are all hankering for the same thing helps a man to banish scruple from his mind and the bystander instinctively places himself in the same mental condition as those he sees' about i him; • "The consequences cannot be worse for me than for other people," he argues to himself. With all this is bound up the"instinct of selfpreservation and self-assertion. There is in each of.us, an inherent desire to "cut the same figure" as our neighbour. Confidence, may be inspired by one person into those about him; but it may likewise be inspired by the many in the one. /

The aspect may' differ essentially according to whether we are studying emotion or the intellectual life. Is there a dual strain in our mentality? In any case, it is certain that one who knows feels differently from another who is ignorant of a particular subject. Human behaviour is not static but dynamic. The ripening of the intellect has a reshaping effect. There is the normal state of mind, and the mental state which may be brought about by circumstances and the peculiar constellations of facts and emotions. There may sometimes be an apparent relapse into atavism. Intellectual activity is of a complex character, but, properly speaking, is incorrect to say that the crowd-mind exhibits intellectual debility. The seeming'bankruptcy of the intellect may be better explained by saying that for the time being a man's ancestors g<*t the upper hand of .him. Individual enterprise may become paralysed. The attribute. of novelty, the vividness'of the imagination, the suggestibility of- the' crowd, all help to explain the incentive to "play _ the game," or to subscribe to a general idea, however absurd it may be. A whole personality, when subject to the influence of excited people about him, may appear quite topsy-turvy. Hypnotic Effect of Crowd. , It is not only the weak-minded who become influenced.' . Even if a man be ever so inetlligent and reflective, his emotions are more powerful than hia thought-life and in his inmost soul he sympathises • with the crowd. His ideals may become static, and he may be led to approve of the most extravagant steps. There is nothing more disturbing to thought than the noise of a throng. Rousseau used to take long solitary walks in a tranquil environment in order to be able to think at his case. He was ; of course, not the only one. The crowd has a disturbing influence upon all logical operations; it creates in its members a peculiar trend of mind. The mind becomes focussed on action, a man emigrates from his own ego. When in a crowd, one has not that same logical grasp of what is possible and what is .not

possible. In a crowd ;we go about as'in a dream; The perspective is entirely changed/The after-effects of a dreamexistcir*f can be noted in many crowds. The soW becomes, as it were, empty, and wo ar * "siore filled with initiative, we beconiu more plucky, or more filled with fear, as the case may be.;' I wonder

whether: a' pigeon''in Trafalgar Square would eat frOm the hand if there were not many of his fellows there. Is not crowd psychology evident here? Even Sophocles would have .admitted that some valuable material for , the study of sociology may be obtained by observing the conduct of animals when herded together. Language plays an important part. The charm or repelling power of the spoken word, the manner of delivery of an orator, may at times exert a hypnotic influence on hearers. The individual being saved the trouble of invention, and being often lazy ■ by nature, is easily swept off his feet. The cult of power is best illustrated in the mob. The collapse of the mass when panic-stricken, is terrible to bekold. The "thirst to obey" is more strong in the masses than.the desire for freedom; the crowd has a vivid sympathy and respect for power in any form, whether exercised for good or evil; a crowd is more ready to lynch a man than to argue as to. whe'ther it were not more proper to hand him over to the police. There is now. a general tendency to remodel into organised, groups; what might have started as a number of mere crowds. Modern methodical organisation has had a salutary effect in bringing about a sense of balance and security; '(' f Star" and A.A.N.S. Copyright.) . ;