The Psychology of Crowds

Classical approaches in the field of psychology

evolution of civilization, consequences of the changes in the thinking of peoples. The
power of the classes.

Psychological law of the mental unity of masses. From a psychological point of view. Supports
from civilization the marvelous and the legendary. The religious forms of atheism. the massacre
from Saint Bartholomew. distant factors: race, tradition, time, institutions
policies and social... are the effects and not the causes: education and the
education... various peoples.

Immediate factors---» images, words. Democracy in Europe and America.

illusions, social necessity of illusions. the masses prefer illusions to
truth. Experience reason. the forced despotism of the guides.
heterogeneous masses homogeneous masses automation
In the collective soul, the intellectual abilities of men, and consequently, their
individuality fades away. The heterogeneous gets lost in the homogeneous and the qualities
the unconscious dominate.
...the inability of the masses to reason deprives them of any critical spirit,
that is, the ability to discern truth from error, to formulate precise judgments.

"Passes from barbarism to civilization in the pursuit of a dream, and after falling and"
to die as soon as this dream loses its strength is the cycle of life of a people.
The unconscious action of the masses that replaces the conscious activity of individuals is
one of the peculiarities that characterize the present. The age of the masses ---->
modification in the ideas of the peoples

Two factors that are at the base of the transformation

1- Destruction of religious, political, and social beliefs that result in all of

elements of our civilization.
The creation of entirely new conditions of existence and thought,
generated by recent discoveries in science and industry.

Modern Age---» periods of transition and anarchy. The strength of the masses. We are at
enter the era of the masses which is the only force that is not threatened by anything. The masses
they do not reflect part of the action. Up to now (1985)
civilizations were created and guided by a small intellectual aristocracy, never
through the masses. A civilization involves moving from the instinctive to the rational.
Criminal masses and virtuous masses
Napoleon was remarkably adept at penetrating the psychology of the masses.
The masses have no opinion beyond those that are suggested to them.
The whole mass has to appreciate a recent or ancient musical work, indigenous or
foreign, simple or complicated as long as a good execution is achieved and
that is performed by players directed by an enthusiastic leader.
The Soul of the Masses Part One
Mass = meeting of any individuals regardless of nationality,
profession or sex and regardless of what brought them together ---» common sense.
A collective soul is formed. A unique being is subject to the law of unity.
mass mentality. The elements that make up the mass can modify it
mental structure. Only the uniformity of means creates the apparent uniformity of
characteristics.

Psychological mass is a provisional being, composed of heterogeneous elements.

united at a given moment, just as the cells of a living body form through the
your union a new being that manifests characteristics very different from those
That each of the cells possesses Herbert Spencer, philosopher. The conscious life of the mind.
it represents a very small part when compared to the unconscious life.

Individuals resemble each other (passions; instincts) especially through the elements.
unconscious and differ through conscious elements (education).

The masses do not accumulate intelligence but rather mediocrity.

Voltaire.
special characteristics of pastes:

In a group, the individual does things they would not do alone because they lose the feeling of
responsibility.
The mental contagion that leads the individual to sacrifice personal interest for the interest
collective.
Suggestibility, contagion is an effect of suggestibility.
The individual acts as if he were hypnotized.
The individual in a mass is a grain of sand among other grains of sand that
the wind raises at its pleasure.

The masses are intellectually inferior to the isolated man.

Feelings and morality

-Characteristics of the masses---»

impulsiveness, irritability, the inability to reason, the absence of good
sense and critical spirit, the exaggeration of feelings...
are driven almost exclusively by the unconscious. Influence of the spinal cord
and not of the brain directly. They are slaves to impulses. They have no will.
durable and are unable to think.

Latina mass----» feminine, authoritarianism, intolerance

Anglo-Saxon mass---» sense of individual independence
The contagion is the first suggestion formulated and that immediately establishes the guidance.
Creation of legends, as events are subjected to imagination
of individuals in the group. The mass thinks in images incapable of overcoming the subjective
The suggestion of contagion is the mechanism of collective hallucinations.
Mass = state of expectant attention ----> triggered suggestion, accepted suggestion
by contagion.
The recognitions are made by children or women who are more susceptible.
the masses see things in blocks and do not know transitions.
In the theater, the audience demands from the hero of the play virtues, courage, and morality that never
They are practiced in real life. A play may please in one country and not in another.
Popular revolutions ---» want to change the names of institutions

Revolution of 1848
Accidental ideas (enthusiasm)
fundamental ideas (historical heritage)
religious ideas
dissociative and social ideas

The reasoning of the masses is based on associations. The unreal predominates over the
real. The theatrical representations influence the masses. Bread and spectacle ideal of
Roman happiness.
It was by becoming a Catholic, said Napoleon, that I ended the war of Vendee; to the
becoming a Muslim that I conquered Egypt, by becoming an ultra-montane that
I conquered the priests in Italy. If I governed a Jewish people, I would rebuild the temple.
of Solomon." They stirred the imagination of the masses, Napoleon, Alexander
and Julius Caesar. To know the art of impressing the imagination of the masses is to know the
art of governing.

Distant factors of the beliefs and opinions of the masses

distant factors ---» prepare the ground from which new ideas emerge, there are
general factors underlying beliefs and opinions.
- immediate factors ---» make the idea take shape
the race ----» exterior expression of the soul
the traditions represent the ideas, the needs, the feelings of a
past. synthesis of the race
-time ---» creator and destroyer. It makes all beliefs evolve and die, "are children of
past and mothers of the future, forever slaves of time.

Political and social institutions are products of race, they are creations of the time.
England is the most democratic country in the world. "It is the character of the peoples and not the
governments that determine their destinies.

Instruction and education - to improve men

Herbert Spencer says that education does not make man any more moral or more...
happy, who does not change their instincts and passions.
Ideas only form in their natural and normal environment.
In English and American education, they learn through practice (in the factory, hospital, workshop)
In the Latin system, one learns in schools (books).

Immediate factors
The images, the words, and the formulas. The words change their meaning.
from era to era. Words live like ideas. Tocqueville replaced the
words for others with similar evocation.
- The illusions----» philosophical, religious, social
Experience----» establish the truth and destroy illusions
The reason ---» negative value of your influence, to dominate the masses it has to be
understand the feelings that dominate them.

Means of persuasion----> means of action - affirmation, repetition, contagion

the mass guides - their role is to create faith in the masses
energetic and momentary will - violent and courageous
strong and lasting (will)
Imitation is a necessity ---» the influence of fashion is born
- the prestige---» mysterious power, spread through opinions via assertion,
repetition and contagion. prestige is a kind of fascination that is exerted over the
our mind.

2 main forms of prestige:

the acquired prestige---» name, fortune, reputation

personal prestige---»individual, glory

Pascal already spoke about the importance of robes and wigs on judges, because they strengthened the
authority.

Prestige always disappears with failure. To be admired by the masses, one must
I need to keep them always at a distance.

Limits of variability of beliefs

Fixed beliefs - were created to establish or maintain general beliefs that were formed in the Middle Ages.
the bonfires.
The Egyptian civilization, the medieval civilization, the Muslim civilization, all have
origin in a small set of beliefs.
The inconsistent opinions of the masses - Romanticism, naturalism, mysticism are born and
They die successively. The government's main concern is to spy on public opinion.
A monarchist should speak of revolution with horror and the republican with reverence.

Heterogeneous masses - any individuals - anonymous (street masses)

non-anonymous (judges)
Homogeneous masses - sects (political, religious sects)
classes (bourgeoisie)
military castes
The psychology of masses differs from individual psychology. French mass values
above all equality. The English mass chained to freedom.
The characteristics of the masses are accentuated the stronger the soul is.
of the race
Homogeneous masses - very much in common; religion - only have the same belief
caste---" the same profession and come from similar backgrounds.
class---» communion of professional occupations
Criminal masses
September Massacre (1972)
Commune of 1871
Juries are more easily convinced than judges who never do.
give up. The candidate must have prestige and power.
Spanish Revolution of 1873