Collective Behavior Flashcards, test questions and answers

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What is Collective Behavior?

Collective behavior, or collective action, is the shared patterns of social interaction and behavior among individuals in a group. It is a form of group dynamics that involves people’s interactions with others and their environment. Collective behavior can occur in both physical and virtual environments, such as online forums or chat rooms. Generally, collective behavior includes any type of social activity that occurs within a group context and can be either voluntary or involuntary.Examples of collective behaviors include protests, riots, crowds, fads and crazes, panics, mobs, pilgrimages, crowd hysteria and contagion effects. People involved in collective behaviors usually share similar goals or beliefs which lead to their joint actions; however it is important to note that the motivations behind these actions vary greatly among individuals within the group. For example: protestors may be motivated by anger at government policies; participants in a fad may be driven by peer pressure; and those involved in panics may be driven by fear.Collective behavior is often studied from various perspectives including sociology (the study of how individuals interact with one another), psychology (the study of individual thought processes) and anthropology (the study of social structures). The main goal when studying collective behavior is to understand how individual thoughts translate into collective action how do small groups influence larger populations? Researchers often use different research methods such as surveys or interviews to analyze different topics related to collective behaviors including the formation process within groups; why certain movements are successful while others are unsuccessful; how emotions like fear spread through groups; leadership styles associated with certain types of collectives; group decision-making processes; etc.. In conclusion, it can be said that understanding collective behaviors can provide insight into societal norms as well as help us better understand our own actions when we are part of a larger group.