Herd behavior, the tendency of individuals to think and act as a group. The Crucible has many signs of this herd behavior,one being how the girls follow Abigail’s footsteps and actions. Then there is mass hysteria, which is an outbreak of unusual behavior, where fear and paranoia take over. A showcase of this in The Crucible would be anyone who feared being called a witch. The Crucible is a good reference point when talking about mass hysteria and herd behavior.
By the 1940’s Mexicans lived in barrio which were entirely different from white suburban neighborhoods. Parents were worried that their kids ventured away from the barrios. Unlike their parents, who were okay with being excluded from their rights, this newer generation were more rebellious and wanted to challenge norms. The Mexican youth began to start wearing the zoot suit. The zoot suit consisted of big balloon pants, it was inspired by African Americans.
N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.) Often the men that took part in this were part of gangs or mobs. These mobs have leaders who would tell the members what to do. Some of these leaders became infamous for their actions.
William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies is about a group of young boys, aged around 6-12, that crash land on an uninhabited island, and without adults, they fail miserably. In E.L Epstein’s article “NOTES ON LORD OF THE FLIES” Golding reveals in his novel that the flaws in human nature lead to a flawed society; which is seen in society (Epstein par. 3). Lord of the Flies provides an example of how imperfections in human nature start to surface when people are in a groups. One imperfection is their tendency to do violent and demeaning things as a mob.
What causes savagery behavior ? Biology can make people do bad things. It can cause savage and immoral behavior. Just like in the novel The Lord of the Flies. In the book, The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, he writes about character who are kids whose plane has crashed on an island.
More than 20 people were executed during the Salem Witch Trials between 1692 and 1693. The play The Crucibles written by Arthur Miller a historical fiction piece based on the Salem Witch Trials. The play shows the struggles of a small town with a big controversy with mob mentality and justice themes throughout the play. Mob Mentality or otherwise called Cult Mentality which is describing humans that have been influenced by their peers around them and move together as a whole or “herd”, they adopt such behaviors from the others apart of their group. Mob Mentality is shown in multiple parts of The Crucibles examples are when the girls are all dancing together in the woods taking part in the so called ritual which happens to be very much out
The issue of mob mentality happens frequently as people depend too much on one another and easily get influenced by what the majority of the people think and decide. The internal or hidden pressure among the group is another factor that leads to why people follow the majority. As everyone started to change when “All at once the crowd swayed towards the island and were gone-following Jack. Even the tiny kids went and did their best among the leaves and broken branches” (Golding 38). Once Jack had become a stubborn dictator, one by one people started to follow him.
Making Positive Decisions With The Group There was a study done by Alexander Merone, a researcher at Penn State, in relation to exactly how much mob mentality can impact decisions. He stated that, "it only takes 5% of what the scientists called ‘informed individuals’ to influence the direction of a crowd of around 200 people. The remaining 95% follow without even realizing it” (Hodan). Statistics likes these frequently cause people to view mob mentality, or the way people are influenced by their peers to make decisions, as having a negative connotation.
It is a natural human instinct to want to be acknowledge by your peers, yet it is also important to be a critical thinker. Irving Janis in 1972 created the term groupthink. He believed groupthink occurs inside a group of similar people that want to keep from being different, resulting in incoherent decision-making. The 1957 film "12 Angry Men," uses groupthink, which influenced the verdict vote in the case of a teenager accused of murdering his father. The purpose of this essay is to examine groupthink and to represent Dr. Irving Janis’ symptoms of groupthink in the film.
Leadership and roles are depicted throughout the whole movie by many different jurors. The designated leader of the jury group was Juror #1. Juror #1 was when they first entered into the room but Juror #8 took the emergent role when he declined to agree with a guilty verdict. His rejection to agree in a guilty verdict was crucial since he voiced his uncertainty to the evidence at a early stage.
The film “The Breakfast Club” exemplifies group dynamic because at the start of the movie they don’t know each other and they think that the personalities are the same as the stereotype linked to their social group, but when they get to know each other the stereotypes go away and they realized that they are very similar. B y the end of the film everyone in the group figures out that they aren't that much different and they are all struggling with being misunderstood, so they realize that they were judging the other people in detention when they weren’t so different. In the movie The Breakfast Club John Bender is the criminal, Claire Standish is the princess, Andy Clarke is the athlete, Brian Johnson is the brain, Allison Reynolds is the basket case. Mr. Vernon gave everyone in the group a piece of paper and a pencil and told them to write a 1,000 word essay on who each one thinks they are. The group responded to the assignment by writing one essay explaining that it was stupid to write who each person thought they were because each person was a basket case, criminal, brain, athlete, and a princess.
Mob mentality occurs in The Lord of the Flies, especially when order is given to a group of people. “All at once the crowd swayed towards the island and were gone-following Jack. Even the tiny kids went and did their best among the leaves and broken branches” (Golding 38). This passage is showing leadership. The reader are also showing how Jack is the leader and everyone follows him and his orders.
We learn from the things we experience, the things we see, and the people with whom we associate. We learn from our surroundings , experiences, acquaintances, friends, and family. Contends that we learn aggression like any other behaviour-by watching others and imitating their behaviour” (2014). This theory explains that people act and do illegal things because that is all they have been taught. Those in gangs who may use violence to resolve conflict and/or establish a respectable name for themselves have been surrounded with those who do the same thing.
Arthur Miller’s portrayal of a town in the midst of a downfall “The Crucible”, tells the story of how mob mentality and hysteria can significantly influence not only individuals but the whole town. This mob mentality leads to unthoughtful acts and false accusations. Two characters who demonstrate how mob mentality can lead to the demise of Salem are Abigail and Mary Warren. As Abigail begins to be accused she is pressured to deter from the truth. While Mary Warren gets pressured by Proctor to reveal the truth about Abigail, but the overwhelming pressure from the mob makes her turn from the truth.
The movie “Twelve Angry Men” illustrates lots of social psychology theories. This stretched and attractive film, characterize a group of jurors who have to decide the innocence or guiltiness of an accused murder. They are simply deliberating the destiny of a Puerto Rican teenaged boy accused of murdering his father. Initially, as the film begins, except the juror Davis (Henry Fonda), all other jurors vote guilty. Progressively, the jurors begin trying to compromise on a point that everybody agree because the decision of the jury has to be unanimous.
