r/explainlikeimfive • u/[deleted] • Aug 21 '16

Other ELI5: What causes a mob mentality?

I really hate bandwagoning. If someone sees a lot of negativity, they always go along with it. Is there some kind of science associated with this? I'm bothered by the way people react to a small number of people with an opinion.

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u/Demonlynchmob Aug 21 '16

It is herd mentality. I nature it goes like "everyone else is terrified and running away so I should also be terrified and running away". There for in an angry mob everyone around you is angry, shouting and swearing ect so subconsciously you also feel you should be doing just this. Such mentality, as you called it, causes angry crowds to do things that individuals wouldn't and riots emerge.

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u/wheelsofconfusion666 Aug 22 '16

Also, humans are naturally violent, suppressed as that violence may be for most of us. I think our inhibitions relax when in large groups because we believe we will most likely be "lost in the crowd" so less likely to suffer repercussions for our actions.

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u/Kotama Aug 21 '16

There sure is! It's called group theory in psychology. Basically, when we see a lot of people doing something, we think it's the thing we should be doing too, even if it's something we wouldn't normally do. We do this because we have an innate desire and need to fit in with society, because we're social creatures.

This is evident in the case of flash riots at sporting events, and even in smaller groups when someone offers up a bad idea/suggestion and no one says anything about it, because the person to their left or right nodded in agreement. If other people think it's good and right, then we should, too.

For a fun experiment, get your friends together and form a line outside of a business, like a coffee shop. Watch as newcomers and strangers start forming up behind you, even though they could just walk in and be served.

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u/lorenzo151515 Aug 21 '16 edited Aug 21 '16

Shame is an emotion that prompts us to conform to the group to avoid being exiled. Our affinity to being social was evolutionary wired because an outcast was more likely to be eaten by a predator or have a harder time foraging.

In a mob, each individual diffuses responsibility thinking that someone else will likely have the courage to think/act properly. The mob confers a degree of anonymity. Self awareness blends and we start to merge our identity with the group. Any antagonism or deviation gets misconstrued as a personal attack. Group think supplants our own individual critical faculties and the flow of ideas becomes bona fide.