Crowd and collective behaviour

Overview

Prosocial and antisocial crowds, social loafing and deindividuation, Zimbardo's and Diener's evidence, and the effects of culture, personality and morality.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is collective behaviour?

   Model answer

   Collective behaviour is the way people act when they are part of a large group or crowd. Crowds can act in prosocial or antisocial ways.

2. 2

   Give one example of prosocial crowd behaviour and one of antisocial crowd behaviour.

   Model answer

   A crowd collecting money at a charity event is prosocial. A crowd looting shops during a riot is antisocial.

3. 3

   What is social loafing?

   Model answer

   Social loafing is when people put in less effort on a group task than they would alone. Individual effort is hidden within the group's total.

4. 4

   Describe evidence for social loafing.

   Model answer

   Latané asked students to clap and shout as loudly as they could, alone or in groups. Each person made less noise in a group than when alone.

5. 5

   How can social loafing reduce prosocial behaviour in a crowd?

   Model answer

   Each person in a large crowd assumes others will make the effort. Fewer people donate or help than if each were alone.

6. 6

   What is deindividuation?

   Model answer

   Deindividuation is the loss of a sense of personal identity when part of a crowd. A deindividuated person feels anonymous and less responsible for their actions.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

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Six ways to work the same material.