Mass hysteria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mass hysteria, or collective hysteria, is the sociopsychological phenomenon of the manifestation of the same hysterical symptoms by more than one person. It may begin when a group witnesses an individual becoming hysterical during a traumatic or extremely stressful event. A potential symptom is group nausea, in which a person becoming violently ill triggers a similar reaction in other group members.
Examples include certain cases of rioting and frenzy, and accidents in which people act "irrationally" (screaming, running in the wrong direction, attacking scapegoats, etc.).
Writer Jerome Clark—while recognizing that mass panic can undoubtedly be genuine and widespread—argues that mass hysteria can be "a classic blame-the-victim strategy" in cases where authorities or experts can find no explanation for puzzling or frightening events. It can also manifest in situations where there is a problem that is endangering their society, but the people want to find a scapegoat and take out their frustrations out on him/her/them (often fatally to the scapegoat) instead of looking for the cause of the problem and potentially finding themselves to be guilty.
Depending on one's personal beliefs, the phenomenon can also be theorized to be described in certain religious contexts.
[edit] See also
- Bandwagon effect
- Bacchanalia
- Bear market
- Collective consciousness
- Collective behavior
- Collective Effervescence
- Collective intelligence
- Corrupted Blood
- Craze
- Crowd psychology
- Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay
- Fan death
- Herd morality
- Folie à deux
- Group behaviour
- Groupthink
- Herd behavior
- Herd instinct
- Hysteria
- London Monster
- The Mad Gasser of Mattoon
- Mean world syndrome
- Meme
- Mob mentality
- Mob rule
- Moral panic
- New Delhi monkeyman
- Photosensitive epilepsy
- September 11 Attacks
- Sheeple
- Spring Heeled Jack
- Stock market bubble
- Stock market crash
- Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic
- Witch-hunt
- 2007 Boston Mooninite Scare
[edit] Sources
- Jerome Clark (1993). Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena. Canton, Milwaukee: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 0-8103-9436-7.
