Mob Mentality Research Paper

A man danced alone on a hill showered with sunlight at a sitting concert, jumping wildly to the beat of the song being played. The onlookers who rested quietly on the blades of grass, silently judged the man dancing. The first follower joined the first man, and the first man embraced the new man warmly-- they danced together. A few seconds later, another man joined. He called to his friends and they joined. Soon, more and more onlookers merged with the group of people dancing upon the hill. The beat was thumping along with the people as they jumped. The crowd of people still sitting quickly stood in order to combine with the assembly. The lone man started out looking ridiculous-- a lone nut. But as soon as the first man joined in his flamboyant

Mob Mentality, which strips those involved of their singularity, causes them to make decisions they would not have made had they not been with the mob of others. What Mob Mentality does, is cause those who would otherwise be reasonable to lose their beliefs and become like those around them. With emotions such as anger and fear coming together, it is no wonder that the result would not be logical. One cannot judge a person and their ethics based upon mob mentality because mob mentality changes a person’s reasoning and logic, it makes their reactions in certain situations different from how they would be had they not been a part of the mob of people who were acting unreasonably. To judge a person based off of that sole instance, in that giant mob, would be illogical -- and it would not be a true representation of that person. But people must be held accountable for their actions even if they are in a mob. Just because they did something dumb and made a bad decision doesn’t necessarily mean they in and of themselves are a bad or malicious person. They could have done a dumb thing because they were influenced and unconsciously made decisions based upon the people they were around, without realizing the implications of their actions. Even if that person was not in a negative situation, say a group of people dancing upon a sun kissed hill, the decisions that followed a person joining the jolly dancers are not necessarily the decisions that the person would have made, had they never stood up from the ground and joined the