Collective Behavior: Contagion Theory

The theory of contagion was developed in the late nineteenth century by social theorists specializing in group psychology. These group psychologists argued that the behaviors, emotions, and thinking displayed by certain types of groups were very different from the behaviors that individuals normally display in their everyday life. Simply stated, the theory of contagion posits that the emotions and actions displayed by individuals when in a group can, in a sense, become contagious and spread to other members of a group, culminating in distinct forms of social action. The first studies of social contagion focused on particular types of group formations such as crowds and mobs and used contagion theory to explain why these types of groups were prone to emotional and violent outbursts. Later reformulations of contagion theory emerging in the 1930s and continuing through the 1960s extended the theory to explain a broad spectrum of social phenomena like fashion fads, political protests, and social movements.

Keywords Circular Reaction; Collective Behavior; Contagion; Craze; Crowd; Identification; Libidinal Ties; Mass; Panic; Social Movement; Suggestibility; Unconscious

Contagion Theory

Overview

Gustave Le Bon: Contagion & Suggestibility

The author and group psychologist most noteworthy for developing the theory of contagion is Gustave Le Bon, who in 1891 published his famous book, The Crowd . In The Crowd, Le Bon gave an account of group formation and collective action based on psychological principles that attempts to explain the special attributes of groups and the power of groups over individuals. He argued that certain types of groups, which he defined as crowds, constitute a level of phenomena that is wholly separate from individual phenomena because of the unique psychological laws that govern the group dynamics of crowds. Thus, unlike many of the other psychological and utilitarian social theories of this era, Le Bon's theory stressed the notion that the group is more than the mere sum of the individuals of which it is composed. Le Bon (1891-1979) illustrated this idea with an analogy to chemistry:

In the aggregate which constitutes a crowd there is in no way a summing-up of or an average struck between its elements. What really takes place is a combination followed by the creation of new characteristics, just as in chemistry certain elements, when brought into contact… combine to form a new body possessing properties quite different from those of the bodies that served to form it. (p. 60)

There are two distinguishing psychological characteristics of crowds that, for Le Bon, make them more than a simple agglomerate of individuals. One characteristic is the suppression of individuality that occurs in crowd formations. Individuals caught up in crowds can lose their senses of self and begin to act almost entirely as a collective unit. As a result, individuals within a crowd can more easily act without reflecting on the consequences of their actions. The other important characteristic of crowds is the psychological transformation that occurs in an individual's mind when drawn into a crowd. Le Bon referred to this transformation in terms of the traditional psychological distinction between the conscious and unconscious spheres of an individual mind. This type of psychological theory suggests that when individuals are in a fully conscious state, they are more easily able to restrain themselves from basing their actions solely on fundamental drives and desires and thus less apt to be ruled by emotional whims and physical inclinations. Yet when the mind of an individual is controlled by a predominately unconscious state, such as when swept up in a crowd, the conscious tendencies of rational thinking and self-reflection, which normally inhibit one from acting in accordance with base instincts, are bypassed. This increased role of the unconscious thus causes one to be less restrained in the pursuit of desires and inclinations despite their consequences and more susceptible to emotional enticement.

Le Bon argued that these emergent characteristics of crowds are the result of three primary causes: "the sentiment of invincible power," "contagion," and "suggestibility" (p. 61). He attributed the feeling of invincibility to the crowd's realization of its strength in numbers, and argued that this sense of omnipotence coupled with the individual's sense of anonymity in a crowd allow the individual "to yield to instincts which, had he been alone, he would perforce have kept under restraint" (p. 61). Le Bon went on to describe contagion as a type of collective hypnotic trance in which emotions and actions, once introduced, have a tendency to spread throughout the crowd, and concluded that suggestibility is the principle psychological force of which contagion is the effect. For Le Bon, the psychological phenomena of suggestibility and contagion emerge as a result of the psychological transformation of the individual in which the "conscious personality" disappears, allowing for a type of unconscious, unreflective, and hypnotic "fascination" to abound (p. 62).

Sigmund Freud: Libidinal Ties & Identification

Sigmund Freud built on the work of Le Bon and attempted to further explain this dynamic in which unconscious tendencies bypass the role of consciousness in certain group formations. Hence, in Group Psychology and Analysis of the Ego, Freud (1921/1959) adopted Le Bon's analysis of suggestion and contagion. In order to describe the processes behind these group processes, Freud contributed two of his own concepts: the notion of libido and the notion of identification. Libido is described, as it is elsewhere in Freud's works, as a type of emotional energy derived from sexual drives. Yet in the group context the libido takes on another role as a type of foundation or glue that binds the members of the group together in the form of libidinal ties. For Freud, these libidinal ties that exist between the members of a group owe their existence to a parallel and concurrent psychological process, which Freud refers to as identification.

In one sense identification represents the primary libidinal or emotional tie that a small child develops for the parent of the opposite sex; yet in another sense, Freud also used this initial development of an emotional tie to explain how such ties are developed between the members of a group. Thus in the first sense, the theory of identification has its roots in Freud's theory of sexuality: it is a stage in the psychosexual development of children resulting from the Oedipus complex.

The Oedipus complex is the term Freud used to describe a condition that he argued is commonly present in the sexual and emotional development of male children. In it the boy develops a type of sexual attachment to his mother as a result of his close relationship to her during the early stages of his development. As a result of this desire to have his mother, the boy simultaneously undergoes the process of identification with the father in which he desires to be like his father and to take over his role in the family:

Identification is known to psychoanalysis as the earliest expression of an emotional tie with another person. It plays a part in the early history of the Oedipus complex. A little boy will exhibit a special interest in his father; he would like to grow like him and be like him, and take his place everywhere. We may say simply that he takes his father as his ideal. (Freud, 1921/1959, p. 47)

Freud thus posited that this type of identification also occurs in certain types of groups, first as a type of special interest in the group leader; then, based on the premise that the leader loves each of the members of the group equally, this identification spreads in the form of emotional or libidinal ties between the members of the group.

In order to explain how these unconscious tendencies toward identification and libidinal connections manifest themselves in the minds of group members, Freud drew on his theory of the different spheres in an individual's mind, which he refers to as the id, the ego, and the superego. Freud described the id as governed by the pleasure principle; it is the region of the mind that is connected to one's unconscious desires. Conversely, Freud refers to the ego as being governed by the reality principle; it is the component of one's mind that is more firmly rooted in consciousness and able to delay the gratification of desires presented to it by the unconscious. It follows that the superego represents a graded difference in the ego in which morality is developed.

This process of moral development, which results in the formation of the superego, is related back to the theory of identification. It is the interest the boy takes in his father that leads him to internalize the voice of the father and his command as the moral voice within his mind. For Freud, this moral voice, which is represented as the superego, is more directly connected to the unconscious than the conscious personality. As Freud (1923/1960) stated in The Ego and the Id :

The considerations that led us to assume the existence of a grade in the ego, a differentiation within the ego, which may be called the 'ego ideal' or 'super-ego', have been stated elsewhere. They still hold good. The fact that this part of the ego is less firmly connected with consciousness is the novelty which calls for explanation. (p. 22)

In stressing this difference in the prevalence of conscious and unconscious aspects in the ego represented in the distinction between the ego and superego, we can see Freud expanding on Le Bon's basic psychological distinction between the roles of the conscious and unconscious in group formations. Just as identification with the father leads to the process in which the boy unconsciously internalizes the voice of the father resulting in the formation of the superego as the child's source of moral authority, so does the unconscious identification with the leader and members of a group cause both the leader and the group itself to fuse with the individual member's superego or moral voice. Hence identification and libidinal ties exist in a kind of mutually reinforcing relationship with the unconscious dimension of the individual's ego (the superego), allowing the authority of the leader and the group to take the place of the superego. Freud (1921/1959) alluded to the fundamental role of this distinction between the ego and the superego in fostering libidinal group ties and its central position in his whole theory of group psychology:

We are aware that what we have been able to contribute towards the explanation of the libidinal structure of groups leads back to the distinction between the ego and the ego ideal and to the double kind of tie which this makes possible - identification, and putting the object in the place of the ego ideal. The assumption of this kind of differentiating grade in the ego as a first step in an analysis of the ego must gradually establish its justification in the most various regions of group psychology.

Further Insights

Later Sociological Applications of Contagion Theory: Herbert Blumer

American sociologists who began studying social movements in the 1930s and 40s were heavily influenced by the theory of contagion as it was presented in the model of group psychology offered by Le Bon. Of the sociologists from this period, Herbert Blumer is one of the key figures responsible for introducing the theory of contagion into a sociological framework in his theory of collective behavior.

In the classic essay, "Collective Behavior," Blumer constructed a general theory of social formations in which he attempted to identify a vast number of different types of social phenomena as manifestations of collective behavior. Blumer (Lee, 1939) wrote, "The nature of collective behavior is suggested by the consideration of such topics as crowds, mobs, panics, manias, dancing crazes, stampedes, mass behavior, public opinion, propaganda, fashion, fads, social movements, revolutions, and reforms" (p. 167). As terms like mobs, panics, manias, crazes, and stampedes connote, Blumer, like Le Bon, was interested in the more chaotic forms of collective behavior, which he termed "elementary forms." He defined these elementary forms of collective behavior as lacking the type of social norms, or "rules" or "common understandings," that dictate how the group should behave (Lee, 1939, p. 168). The common element found in many of these forms of collective behavior is the presence of a state of "social unrest," or a type of frenzied social state characterized by "spontaneous" group behavior that is induced by some form of traumatic social event. In Blumer's words "A highly excited mob, a business panic, a state of war hysteria, a condition of social unrest represent instances of collective behavior which are of this character" (Lee, 1939, p. 168).

Contrasted to these elementary forms of collective behavior, Blumer also designated "organized forms" of collective behavior in which rules and norms begin to develop and guide group behavior as a "new social order" is formed (Lee, 1939 p. 168, 169). Blumer had these more organized forms in mind when mentioning such phenomena as social movements and reforms. As a sociologist he was interested in charting out how the spontaneous and contagious behavior of Le Bon's crowd crystallizes into more organized forms of social action. As an example of this path from social unrest to organized forms of social action, one might consider the situation the American colonists found themselves in under the rule of England: namely, how the increases in colonial taxes led to social unrest and cries of "no taxation without representation," which, in turn, led to more organized social movements like the Boston Tea Party, the American revolution, and the adoption of the federal constitution.

As a corollary to Le Bon's theory of contagion, Blumer developed the notion of "circular reaction" to explain the processes at work in the elementary forms of collective behavior. In many ways this concept functions as both a rearticulation and elaboration of the ideas that Le Bon set forth. Blumer defined circular reaction as

a type of interstimulation wherein the response of one individual reproduces stimulation that has come from another individual and in being reflected back to this individual reinforces the stimulation. Thus the interstimulation assumes a circular form in which the individuals reflect one another's states of feeling and in so doing intensify this feeling. It is well evidenced in the transmission of feelings and moods among people who are in a state of excitement. (Lee, 1939, p.170)

One can see how this definition of circular reaction is very similar to Le Bon's notions of contagion and suggestibility in which the emotions expressed by one individual can easily spread to the other members of the group. Yet Blumer also added the dimension of stimulation and interaction, highlighting the mutually reinforcing process by which these stimulations and emotions can be reproduced and intensify.

For Blumer, it is this process of circular reaction that occurs in the elementary forms of collective behavior combined with another phenomenon he defines as "restlessness" that leads to the extreme form of social unrest one sees manifested in crowds and mobs. Blumer described restlessness as the state in which "people have impulses, desires, or dispositions which cannot be satisfied by the existing forms of living," and posited that "it is only when restlessness is involved in circular reaction, or becomes contagious, that social unrest exists" (Lee, 1939, p. 171, 172).

Viewpoints

Critical Perspectives on Contagion

Some of the latest developments in social movement literature, often referred to as New Social Movement (NSM) theory, have attempted to reformulate the role that emotions play in various types of social movements. NSM theorists conceive of social movements as legitimate forms of protest and reform in which actors attempt to strategically maximize their resources in order to achieve aims of social justice. They attempt to portray social movement actors as capable of operating in a rational capacity, and they study emotions as a motivational force behind collective action as well as a strategy within a repertoire of cultural tools used by social movement actors to attract sympathizers and mobilize resources to further the ends of their movements. Insofar as NSM theorists seek to study emotion as a positive force for mobilization and a rational tool for achieving ends, they reject the theory of emotional contagion propagated by Le Bon, Freud, and Blumer. In their view, the theory of emotion contagion treats emotion as an irrational force that can to lead to deviant forms of collective action such as crowds, mobs, panics, and crazes. In Passionate Politics, Jasper, Goodwin, and Polletta (2001) describe what they believe to be the negative image that the theory of emotional contagion casts on social movements:

In nineteenth-century images of the mob, normal individuals were thought to be transformed mysteriously in the presence of the crowd, prone to anger and violence, and easily manipulated by demagogues. Well into the twentieth century, crowds and their dynamics were conceived as the heart of protest movements. Crowds were assumed to create, through suggestion and contagion, a kind of psychologically "primitive" group mind and group feelings, shared by all participants outside their normal range of sensibilities. (p. 2)

The question remains whether the theory of contagion found in the work of Le Bon, Freud, and Blumer retains its usefulness as an adequate explanatory mechanism when extended to more complex and organized phenomena such as social movement formations. But insofar as the more elementary forms of collective behavior are concerned, such as crowds and mobs, these theorists' contributions to the legacy of social thought are still worthy of recognition.

Terms & Concepts

Circular Reaction: A phenomenon of group interaction in which a stimulation or emotion introduced by one member of a group reproduces itself in other members in a mutually reinforcing process that builds in intensity. The term was coined by Herbert Blumer.

Collective Behavior: General types of group formations, such as crowds, mobs, masses, panics, crazes, fads, and social movements, as well as the type of actions that these groups engage in.

Contagion: A psychological theory describing a type of collective hypnotic trance in which emotions and actions, once introduced, have a tendency to spread throughout a crowd. The theory was introduced by Gustave Le Bon.

Craze: "Mobilization for action based on a positive wish-fulfillment belief" (Smelser, 1962, p. 171). A fashion fad which leads teenagers to believe that they need a certain brand of jeans could be considered an example of a craze.

Crowd: A special type of group that, according to Le Bon, is subject to unique psychological laws which cause individuals to fall into an unconscious state of mind and behaviors and emotions to spread in a contagious manner.

Identification: A concept employed by Freud to describe the first emotional tie a child forms with his or her parent of the opposite sex. In the case of male children, a boy develops an interest in his father and wants to be like him and take his place. Identification also occurs in groups in the form of interest in the group leader, and helps to explain the emotional ties that hold groups together.

Libidinal Ties: The notion of the libidinal tie is an offshoot of Freud's theory of the libido. Just as the libido exists as a form of emotional energy derived from one's sexual drives, libidinal ties constitute the emotional connections that bind the members of a group together.

Mass: Distinguished from a crowd in that it "is more heterogeneous, more anonymous, less organized and less intimately engaged in interaction" (Smelser, 1962, p. 7).

Panic: "A collective flight based on a hysterical belief" (Smelser, 1962, p.131).

Social Movement: In Blumer's account, "collective enterprises to establish a new order of life. They have their inception in conditions of unrest, and derive their motive power on one hand from dissatisfaction with the current form of life, and on the other hand, from wishes and hopes for a new scheme or system of living" (Lee, 1939, p.199).

Suggestibility: The psychological force in which the mere presence of a crowd member acting in a certain way or displaying a particular emotion entices other members of the crowd to act or emote in a similar way. The term was coined by Le Bon.

Unconscious: In psychological terms, the region of the mind from which our fundamental desires emanate. When one's mind is dominated by an unconscious state, one will seek to fulfill these desires in an uninhibited manner. Within contagion theory, members of crowds are believed to be governed by an unconscious state of mind.

Bibliography

Freud, S. (1960). The ego and the id. (James Strachey, Ed. Joan Riviere, Trans.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company. (Original work published 1923)

Freud, S. (1959). Group psychology and the analysis of the ego. (James Strachey, Ed. Trans.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company. (Original work published 1921)

Goodwin, J., Jasper, J. M. & Polletta, F. (2001). Passionate politics: Emotions and social movements. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Harrigan, N., Achananuparp, P., & Lim, E. (2012). Influentials, novelty, and social contagion: The viral power of average friends, close communities, and old news. Social Networks, 34, 470–480. Retrieved October 24, 2013 from EBSCO online database, SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=83870904&site=ehost-live

Le Bon, G. (1979). Gustave Le Bon: The man and his works (Alice Widener, Ed. Trans.). Indianapolis: Liberty Press. (Original work published 1891)

Lee, A. M. (Ed.). (1939). Principles of sociology. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Sampson, T.D. (2012). Virality: Contagion theory in the age of networks. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Smelser, N. J. (1962). Theory of collective behavior. New York: The Free Press.

Suggested Reading

Hoffer, E. (1951). The true believer: Thoughts on the nature of mass movements . New York: Harper and Row.

Lasswell, H. D. (1948). Power and personality. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Lasswell, H. D. (1930). Psychopathology and politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Miller, N. & Dollard, J. (1941). Social learning and imitation. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Sampson, T.D. (2012). Virality: Contagion theory in the age of networks. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.