Editing Collective behavior (section)

== Theories developed to explain collective behavior ==
Social scientists have developed various theories to explain crowd behavior.

#'''Contagion theory''' – according to the contagion theory as formulated by French thinker [[Gustave Le Bon]] (1841-1931), crowds exert a hypnotic influence over their members. Shielded by anonymity, large numbers of people abandon personal responsibility and surrender to the contagious emotions of the crowd. A crowd thus assumes a [[existence | life]] of its own, stirring up emotions and driving people toward irrational, even violent action.{{r|LeBon1896}} Le Bon's theory, although one of the earliest explanations of crowd behavior, is still accepted by many people outside of sociology. {{r|CastellanoFortunatoLoreto2009}} However, critics argue that the "[[collective mind]]" has not been documented by systematic studies. Furthermore, although collective behavior may involve strong emotions, such feelings are not necessarily irrational. Turner and Killian argue convincingly that the "contagion" never actually occurs and that participants in collective behavior do not lose their ability to think rationally.{{r|TurnerKillian1957}}
#'''Convergence theory''' – whereas the contagion theory suggests that crowds cause people to act in a certain way, convergence theory states that people who want to act in  a certain way come together to form crowds. Developed by [[Floyd Henry Allport | Floyd Allport]] (1890-1979){{r|Allport1924}} and later expanded upon by [[Neal E. Miller | Neal Miller]] (1909-2002) and [[John Dollard]] (1900-1980) as [[Social learning theory | "Learning Theory"]],{{r|MillerDollard1941}} the central argument of all convergence theories is that collective behavior reveals the otherwise hidden tendencies of the individuals who take part in the episode. The theory asserts that people with similar attributes find other like-minded persons with whom they can release these underlying tendencies. People sometimes do things in a crowd that they would not have the courage to do alone - because crowds can diffuse responsibility - but the behavior itself is claimed to originate within the individuals. Crowds, in addition, can intensify a sentiment simply by creating a critical mass of like-minded people.
#'''Emergent-norm theory''' – according to sociologists [[Ralph H. Turner|Ralph Turner]] (1919-2014) and Lewis Killian,{{r|TurnerKillian1957}} crowds begin as [[social collectivity | collectivities]] composed of people with mixed interests and motives.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Turner
 |first1               = Ralph H
 |author-link1         = Ralph H. Turner
 |last2                = Killian
 |first2               = Lewis M. 
 |year                 = 1987
 |orig-date            = 1957
 |chapter              = Diffuse Collectivities
 |title                = Collective Behavior
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=F5zZAAAAMAAJ
 |edition              = 3
 |publication-place    = Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
 |publisher            = Prentice-Hall
 |page                 = 136
 |isbn                 = 9780131406827
 |access-date          = 15 October 2024
 |quote                = We shall refer to such a collectivity as a ''diffuse'' crowd.
}} 
</ref> Especially in the case of less-stable crowds — expressive, acting and protest crowds — norms may be vague and changing, as when one person decides to break the glass windows of a store and others join in and begin looting merchandise. When people find themselves in a situation that is vague, ambiguous, or confusing, new norms "emerge" on the spot and people follow those emergent norms, which may be at odds with normal social behavior. Turner and Killian further argue that there are several different categories of participants, all of whom follow different patterns of behavior due to their differing motivations.
#'''Value-added theory''' – Professor [[Neil Smelser]] (1930-2017) argues that collective behavior is actually a sort of release-valve for built-up tension ("strain") within a social system, community, or group.{{r|Smelser1962}} If the proper determinants are present then collective behavior becomes inevitable. Conversely, if any of the key determinants are not present no collective behavior will occur unless and until the missing determinants fall into place. These are primarily social, although physical factors such as location and weather may also contribute to or hinder the development of collective behavior.
#'''Complex Adaptive Systems theory''' – Dutch scholar [[Jaap van Ginneken]] (1943- ) claims that contagion, convergence and emergent norms are just instances of the synergy, emergence and autopoiesis or self-creation of patterns and new entities typical for the newly discovered meta-category of [[complex adaptive system]]s.{{r|Ginneken2003}} This also helps explain the key role of salient details and path-dependence in rapid shifts.
#'''Shared intentionality theory''' – Cognitive psychologist Professor [[Michael Tomasello]] (1950- ) developed the psychological construct of [[shared intentionality]] through his insights into [[Evolution of cognition | cognition evolution]] and, specifically, the knowledge development about the contribution of [[shared intentionality]] to the formation of a [[social reality]].<ref>Tomasello, M. ''Becoming Human: A Theory of Ontogeny''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: [[Harvard University Press]]; 2019.</ref> Shared intentionality provides unaware processes in mother-child dyads during social learning when young organisms can only manifest simple reflexes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1 =Val Danilov |first1 =Igor |last2 =Mihailova |first2 =Sandra |date = 2022|title =A New Perspective on Assessing Cognition in Children through Estimating Shared Intentionality |journal =Journal of Intelligence |language =en |volume =10 |issue =2 |pages =21 |doi =10.3390/jintelligence10020021 |issn =2079-3200 |pmc =9036231 |pmid =35466234 |doi-access =free }}</ref> It increases the cognitive performance of children indwelling with mothers who know the correct answer. This interaction proceeds without communication within the dyad using sensory cues. Professor Igor Val Danilov argues that this performance succeeds due to sharing an essential stimulus during a single cognitive task in the shared ecological context.<ref>{{cite journal |title =Theoretical Grounds of Shared Intentionality for Neuroscience in Developing Bioengineering Systems |first =Igor |last =Val Danilov |journal =OBM Neurobiology |url = https://www.lidsen.com/journals/neurobiology/neurobiology-07-01-156 |date =2023-02-17 |volume =7 |issue =1 |page =156 |doi =10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2301156|doi-access =free }}</ref> Furthermore, research shows that shared intentionality can appear even in groups of more mature organisms due to their physiological synchrony and group dynamics.<ref>Val Danilov I, Mihailova S. ''Empirical Evidence of Shared Intentionality: Towards Bioengineering Systems Development.'' OBM Neurobiology 2023; 7(2): 167; doi:10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2302167.
https://www.lidsen.com/journals/neurobiology/neurobiology-07-02-167</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1 =Val Danilov |first1 =Igor |last2 =Mihailova |first2 =Sandra |last3 =Svajyan |first3 =Araksia |date = 2022|title =Computerized Assessment of Cognitive Development in Neurotypical and Neurodivergent Children |url =https://www.lidsen.com/journals/neurobiology/neurobiology-06-03-137 |journal =OBM Neurobiology |language =en |volume =6 |issue =3 |pages =1–8 |doi =10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2203137|doi-access =free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last =Val Danilov |first =Igor |title =2022 International Conference on Computational Science and Computational Intelligence (CSCI) |chapter =A Bioengineering System for Assessing Children's Cognitive Development by Computerized Evaluation of Shared Intentionality  |chapter-url =https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10216436?fbclid=IwAR22GYUVlz-Ym4_oFbAVuhqi5Erf28JUR3abSitMv4cVNYIuBqfo3MSHa7c |access-date =2023-11-16 |date =2022 |pages =1583–1590 |doi =10.1109/CSCI58124.2022.00284 |isbn =979-8-3503-2028-2 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1 =Val Danilov |first1 =Igor |last2 =Svajyan |first2 =Araksia |last3 =Mihailova |first3 =Sandra |date = 2023|title =A New Computer-Aided Method for Assessing Children's Cognition in Bioengineering Systems for Diagnosing Developmental Delay |url =https://www.lidsen.com/journals/neurobiology/neurobiology-07-04-189 |journal =OBM Neurobiology |language =en |volume =7 |issue =4 |pages =1–15 |doi =10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2304189|doi-access =free }}</ref> Therefore, this interaction can provide subliminal compliance of the participants to the group decisions, encouraging people to engage in acts they might consider unthinkable under typical social circumstances. The hypothesis of neurobiological processes occurring during shared intentionality explains how organisms can share relevant sensory stimuli without communication within the group using sensory cues.<ref>{{Cite journal |last =Val Danilov |first =Igor |date = 2023|title =Shared Intentionality Modulation at the Cell Level: Low-Frequency Oscillations for Temporal Coordination in Bioengineering Systems |url =https://www.lidsen.com/journals/neurobiology/neurobiology-07-04-185 |journal =OBM Neurobiology |language =en |volume =7 |issue =4 |pages =1–17 |doi =10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2304185|doi-access =free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last =Val Danilov |first =Igor |date = 2023|title =Low-Frequency Oscillations for Nonlocal Neuronal Coupling in Shared Intentionality Before and After Birth: Toward the Origin of Perception |url =https://www.lidsen.com/journals/neurobiology/neurobiology-07-04-192 |journal =OBM Neurobiology |language =en |volume =7 |issue =4 |pages =1–17 |doi =10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2304192|doi-access =free }}</ref>