Crowd theories in Russian psychology at the end of 19th — beginning of the 20th century

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Vol. 31 Iss. 1 pp. 15–23 | St. Petersburg State Institute of Psychology and Social Work | ISSN: 1993-8101
2019 • Issue 1 • Volume 31Research in applied psychology

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Abstract

The article considers the contents of crowd theories, proposed by Russian scientists and public figures from the 1880s to the 1930s. In particular, the contribution made by N.K. Mihaylovskiy, V.K. Sluchevskiy, D.D. Bezsonov, V.M. Bekhterev, L.N. Voytolovskiy, V.A. Vagner to studying this phenomenon is analyzed. The specifics of the crowd as a social association, conditions of its formation, possible tendency to criminal behaviour, changes of a personality in the crowd, leaders’ impact on followers – these are the questions, which researchers were interested in at that time. It is noted that the three key paradigms (“psychological contagion”, “individual in the crowd” and “herd instinct”), which determined the study of elemental groups in Western Europe right up to the middle of the 20th century, originated in Russian publications on this subject.

Keywords

crowd, study of the crowd, Russian crowd theories, properties of the crowd, influence on the individual in the crowd, crimes of the crowd

Citation

Citation — Harvard Notation

References

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