Crowd plus emergency equals mass panic, or so urban myths and Hollywood films would have us believe. The reality, recognised by social psychology for some time, is that people in crowds often behave in remarkably cooperative and selfless ways. A new study by John Drury and colleagues suggests that this kind of collaborative behaviour emerges when people in a crowd acquire a shared identity. And contrary to the “mass panic” perspective, an emergency can be the very catalyst that brings people together.
If you’ve ever been on an underground train that gets stranded mid-tunnel, or on an aeroplane that’s overstayed its welcome on a runway, you might have glimpsed a mild version of this feeling of a shared fate. With the temperature rising and information lacking, you and your fellow passengers stop feeling like strangers and start to feel united in your predicament.
Drury and his colleagues asked 21 survivors of mass emergencies about these feelings of unity and about how much helping behaviour and orderliness they’d witnessed. Between them, the participants had been caught up eleven emergency situations including the crush at Hillsborough, the Harrods bomb of 1983, and the over-crowding at the Fatboy Slim beach party in 2002.
"
Is that a pumpkin place on someones head in the top right corner? Is this the hidden item? Do I win something?
placed* rather.
I can see Derren’s face in the photo, is that the hidden item?
Is the yellow thing on someone’s face in the top right hand corner the same yellow ‘thing’ that Derren was holding in the picture of him on the bus with the kids? Is that it?
…Not to be a scrooge, but… couldn’t some of these results (gathered by reviewing survivor’s memories) be caused by cognitive dissonance? …Meaning, to deal with their own “survivor’s guilt”, wouldn’t we expect them to see their behaviours (as well as others) as being unified?
Memory is a funny thing.
I don’t think there’s anything hidden in that image, it’s hosted on the metro website.
Crowds still tend to behave like a flock of birds or such .. when there is space enough. Especially in the first moments and when no-one really knows what is going on. They just run off into one direction (like sheep over a …) as they are all out of their normal selfes for a moment, the respond instinctively. As soon as some figure of authority steps in, and seems to know what is going on and what to do (is important that he does have the right attitude/self esteem), people probably indeed will start to focus on that person for directions. Not all though.
And talking to your fellow passengers … only IF those things haven’t happen to often …. (train delays etc.) ..
The real test is ofcourse .. being in a situation of extreme danger ..
Disasters maybe but sales at Wal-Mart on black friday in the states brings out chaos and trampled victims.
There was something on the news last night about some actors filming a police video in MK Shopping Centre to prepare them for any signs of terroist attacks. Was pretty freaky.
Did someone say kettle? Anyone fancy a brew?