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Like water and vapor—conformity and independence in the large group
Author(s) -
Tarnow Eugen
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 0005-7940
DOI - 10.1002/bs.3830410204
Subject(s) - conformity , rationalization (economics) , contradiction , independence (probability theory) , group decision making , group (periodic table) , phenomenon , social psychology , psychology , group behavior , chemistry , epistemology , mathematics , microeconomics , economics , statistics , philosophy , organic chemistry
Conformity and independence in the large group may, in part, be due to collective phenomena analogous to those producing different physical phases like solid, liquid and vapor. This phase model of the large group explains several previous anecdotal observations: It predicts a suddenness in the decision‐making, it explains the apparent contradiction between crowd suggestibility on the one hand and the difficulty of controlling a crowd on the other hand, and it provides a new rationalization for the phenomenon of splitting. The model is of use to both leaders and members of the large group. For example, it suggests what social parameters to change to disperse a violent crowd, and why “crowd crystals”, a concept examined by the writer Cannetti, can suddenly make the large group conform.