Mass psychology

[Comrade Marcel]

Mass psychology

I was thinking about something.

Have there been studies of psychology, not just nationally, but internationally, of mass psychology?

I am also interested to know if these studies, have they been done, gone beyond the superficial assumptions of human behaviour, and taken in to account socio-political systems, and the different material conditions that the people in each nation, particularly with demographic considerations in mind, and what Multi-nation, state or other are various sates peoples experience due to material conditions or historical or contemporary realities. Things like culture, class, behaviour, sex, sexuality and relationships I'm surious about. Further what are the critical/social-justice/Marxists and anti-capitalist views versus the bourgeois/superficial/mainstream views pro-capitalist/”apolitical” views?

How do people view and value relationships in places with high versus low versus moderate population counts? For example, in China, where the population is very high, do people look at friendships as less meaningful then somewhere with a lowe population (i.e. does the attitude of "people come a dime a dozen" exist in certain places?) When compared with a high western population, such as New York City, do we see similar attitudes and patterns when it comes to human interactions and relationships; and the attitudes displayed to them? China is capitalist in the sense that it has a market economy, but the political systems is still different then western capitalism, and collectivism is valued. Does this make people think of their neighbours, peers, etc. as more valuable? Are people more social (i.e. do people talk to and are more sympathetic/trustful of strangers?) or not? What role does monogamy play? How is it practiced, valued and viewed as? In practice, what result does monogamy create? Also, morals and ethics will play a role in society, both religious and none religious ethics. What are the different effects of the different practices?

A couple of readings I have encountered that look at some of these issues are “Mass Psychology and Fascism” by Wilhelm Reich, “Two Worlds of Childhood” by Urie Bronfenbrenner and Franz Fanon’s “Wretched of the Earth”.

Please keep in mind the post is completely scattered, out of curiosity and from the top of my head (which is something like a blender right now).

[tunes]

Some literature which may fall under this topic, though I cannot comment upon -

http://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/
http://marxists.org/archive/elkonin/index.htm
http://marxists.org/archive/leontev/index.htm

See the "further reading" sections for more related topics. I'll be touching upon these topics sooner than later. Until then, a hopeful addition.

[Xvall]

"Mass Psychology" is usually more along the lines of Sociology. (The study of people's attributes as a group, rather than as individuals.)

[Comrade Marcel]

Originally posted by [email protected] 6 2005, 09:56 PM
"Mass Psychology" is usually more along the lines of Sociology. (The study of people's attributes as a group, rather than as individuals.)
Certainly they interlap with one another.

Sociology does look at social psychology and collective behavior which is related to mass psychology.

I'm also interested in related thoeries on this question, like collective consciousness, herding effect and herd behavior; bandwagon effect, memes, propaganda, "sheeple", propaganda, crowd psychology, collective hysteria, mob mentality, etc. etc. etc....

Any recommended readings.

[diamond_rabbit]

Originally posted by Comrade Marcel+Nov 6 2005, 03:51 PM--> (Comrade Marcel @ Nov 6 2005, 03:51 PM)
[email protected] 6 2005, 09:56 PM
"Mass Psychology" is usually more along the lines of Sociology. (The study of people's attributes as a group, rather than as individuals.)
Certainly they interlap with one another.

Sociology does look at social psychology and collective behavior which is related to mass psychology.

I'm also interested in related thoeries on this question, like collective consciousness, herding effect and herd behavior; bandwagon effect, memes, propaganda, "sheeple", propaganda, crowd psychology, collective hysteria, mob mentality, etc. etc. etc....

Any recommended readings.[/b]
i have a friend who is applying some psychoanalytic concepts in her work to understand how people's identificatory processes play out in the context of political struggles. we haven't spoken enough about her work for me to explain much about it, but when she starts publishing i will definitely send the references your way. but i guarantee that she will not be working with superficial assumptions of human behaviour and will take into account socio political systems. i look forward to reading her work:) (by the way--she's in women's studies, not psychology)

otherwise, there has been some work done in the area of queer theory that similarly applies psychoanalytic concepts to understand how dominant discourses shape us and how oppressed people resist. i'm bad at remembering authors and titles, but i will try to dig through some old articles/books to see if i can find anything relevant, if this interests you.

in the discipline of psychology (at least today), social psychology is the only subfield that really looks at these questions, and too often social psychologists do not question to an adequate extent normative/oppressive assumptions about human nature.

critical or radical psychology might be of interest to you as well. This is a subfield of psychology that critiques oppressive facets of mainstream psychology and society more generally. i wouldn't be surprised if somebody in this area is addressing some of your questions. Here is a link to the radical psychology network:

http://www.dennisfox.net/critpsy/#RadPsyNet

there is indeed a false divide between disciplines like psychology, sociology, etc. that makes our understandings of these questions less complete. and as a person situated in the discipline of psychology, it is true that the focus is heavily focused on the individual often stripped from her/his context. the more sophisticated understandings of people i have come across have not been in psychology for this reason. psychology has evolved into a pseudo-science that tries to address our understanding of human behaviour in a quantitative and apolitical way(i.e. with all dominant group values left in tact and unquestioned).

i'll let you know if i come across any specific references.

[Xvall]

Certainly they interlap with one another.

In some instances they do, but actually, I've learned that Sociology and Psychology are often at odds with each other. Psychology is a lot more conservatized than sociology in that psychology attemts to "fix" a person so they fit into social standards, whereas sociology attempts to "fix" society itself as it sees it as the root of many problems.

For example, if a man murdered his family, a psychologist will say that he has psychological issues or chemical imbalances that lead to agressiveness, whereas a sociologist would insist that there is some aspect of society that pushed him towards his actions.

They are both logical sciences, however, and they do interlap in instances.

[diamond_rabbit]

Originally posted by Comrade [email protected] 5 2005, 11:16 PM
other are various sates peoples experience due to material conditions or historical or contemporary realities. Things like culture, class, behaviour, sex, sexuality and relationships I'm surious about.
there is also literature in psychology trying to address questions of culture, class, and sexuality (and other diversities), but it often does so within a liberalist framework. mainstream psychology literature that addresses diversity issues will go so far as to acknowledge that these demographics matter, and that current psychological theories do not adequately account for the various dimensions of human diversity. Then, more specifically, some literature will go into more detail about specific cultures or minority groups. sometimes this literatures tries to address problems of racism, homophobia, or sexism (less often classism--contemporary psychology is heavily invested in capitalism; also, issues of disability are rarely addressed from a critical disability standpoint--usually, disability is examined only through the medical model).

the discipline tries to be as pc as possible (i use pc as in polically correct according to where mainstream standards are at, not pc according to what revolutionary lefists say!). this means that the governing psychology bodies have made official policies on inclusiveness and diversity, but the implementation of these policies is about as superficial as the actions of the Kanadian government in their policies on multiculturalism. they are willing to accomodate diversity in so far as it does not fundamentally challenge the status quo.

also, we can identify trends related to experiences of oppressed group--this is what we do anyway in our activist lives--but when we are looking at individuals, we cannot make assumptions about how demographics impact any given person. identity and human experience is too complex for that. for example, as a queer who grew up in a queer-postitive environment, the impact of the hetero-patriarchy is very different on me than it is for the queer who grew up very isolated in a homophobic context in rural Ontario. or my experience as a person who is most often interpreted as a white, educated woman is very different from that of a racialized woman working at a factory. so while it is very useful for oppressed groups to come together and do consciousness-raising about how patriarchy, capitalism, etc. has an impact on our lives, and this is critical information for psychology, sociology, etc., we have to be aware that these systems impact people differently, regardless of what demographic categories they fall under.

i know that this is not really addressing demographics in terms of 'mass psychology'. i'm in a subfield of psychology focussed on the individual (although the individual/collective is in a way a false divide, anyway). but i think that disciplines such as womin's studies, equity studies, and sociology do a better job of looking at these issues from a collective standpoint, and i think you probably have some familiarity with this literature already. it's funny--in my work, i'm trying to get psychology people to think outside demographic categories--instead to develop an analysis of racism, sexism, ableism, heteronormativity, capitalism, etc.--but to also understand that the meaning of these systems plays out very differently for different people. this is in reaction to psychology books on diversity that have chapters on each discrete demographic category and that fail to address the intersectionality of these categories. this approach can easily bring psychologists who have little political analysis to stereotype individuals based on group trends and does little to help people understand different 'cultures' in the context of histories of colonization.

ok--i guess i should mention the subfield of 'evolutionary psychology'. 'evolutionary psychology' examines human behaviour in the context of the history of humans. i HATE HATE HATE this field, because it is full of really oppressive white bourgeois men psychologists who are using evolutionary concepts to provide scientific 'proof' that the status quo is a result of human nature. i don't believe that this body of literature will enlighten you at all--it's a complete waste of time and paper and is absolutely counter-revolutionary. it certainly is not questioning simplistic and oppressive assumptions about human nature.... instead it is trying to naturalize these assumptions, to turn these assumptions into scientific fact. to show that human nature is the cause of socio-political contexts.

i took a class in evolutionary psychology, and lecture topics included &#39;why women like men who drive fast cars&#39; and &#39;why women enjoy ironing&#39; from an evolutionary perspective. it was the worst&#33; also, the professor picked on me the entire term because i came out as a feminist in the first class. oh&#33; here&#39;s a good story:) one day, i was stretching in class, and i guess my shirt went up a bit and my belly was showing. well, the professor, in the middle of the class, used this as an example about his &#39;nature&#39; as a man, that he was distracted and had to look at my belly and lost his place in mid-sentence. i gave him this really, really evil look, and he apologized in front of the class. i didn&#39;t say anything and continued to stare him down, so he dismissed the class to talk to me one on one. he begged me not to tell on him. i didn&#39;t say anything to him, just continued to stare him down and let him plead, and then walked out of class, leaving him to reflect on his sexist assumptions and behaviours. <end of tangent>

i think that you might be interested in some psychological work on intergenerational trauma. there is some literature on how trauma plays out in the lives of holocaust survivors, their children, and their grandchildren. there is also some work on intergenerational trauma in aboriginal communities. this is very interesting, and by the way, really backs up my stubborn anti-violence stance&#33;&#33; :P unfortunately, a lot of this literature uses some oppressive psychiatric lingo, but there are still some very important concepts developed. this literature has helped me to understand the mass psychology of jews today in the post-holocaust era, even though this is not directly what this literature addresses.

[Janus]

The effects on industry on human psychology would be in the field of industrial and organizational psychology. As for the rest, they would probably go into social psychology.