Emotional contagion. How experiences are transmitted

We think we can control our emotions, but is that really true?

Emotional contagion is a phenomenon in which one person's mood is transmitted to other people. The psychological state can apply both to specific individuals and to an entire group. Contagion of emotions occurs only during contact between people - personal or virtual.

There are many points of view about the reasons for the transfer of emotional states between people. One of these was expressed by psychologist Elaine Hatfield. In his opinion, infection with emotions occurs through automatic copying of a person’s facial expressions, voice, gestures and posture. Through unconscious repetition of other people's movements, we gradually adopt the same feelings as our interlocutor.

Introduction

If we proceed from the fact that social psychology, first of all, analyzes those patterns of human behavior and activity that are determined by the fact that people are included in real social groups, then the first empirical fact that this science encounters is the fact of communication and interaction between people. According to what laws do these processes develop, what determines their various forms, what is their structure; finally, what place do they occupy in the entire complex system of human relations?

One of the important mechanisms of communication and interaction between people is the processes of mental imitation and infection.

I consider the topic of the test to be relevant, since the problems and mechanisms of human interaction are inextricably linked both in the professional and social life of an individual.

The purpose of the test is to cover the topic of Mental infection and imitation.

Independent work tasks:

— Reveal the essence of the concepts of mental infection and imitation;

— Reveal the significance of infection and imitation for public and social life;

— Give examples of manifestations of mental infection and imitation in a person’s public and personal life.

Preventing Panic

People's response to various disasters and emergency situations, as in ancient times, very often ends in panic. That’s why the answer to the question is so important: how to prevent and stop panic if it has already begun?

One of the main preventive methods is to establish effective leadership while simultaneously building trust in that leadership. No less important for preventing panic is the knowledge by group members of their functional responsibilities, circumstances, reasons for the situation, and the possibility of obtaining reliable information about them. Lack of information always breeds uncertainty, and under such conditions it is more difficult to distract panic.

Knowledge of the dynamics of panic makes it possible to develop recommendations and techniques aimed at stopping it and preventing it.

Dynamics

panic looks like this.

Firstly, a stimulus is needed for panic to occur (the cry of “Fire” is reinforced by the smell of smoke).

Secondly, panic begins with the reactions of individuals who make up the crowd. These are, as a rule, anxious people whose disordered movements activate feelings of fear and despair. Further, a panic state under the influence of infection covers an increasing number of people. Then a panic movement begins without a well-thought-out plan or prediction of the consequences.

The climax occurs at the moment of mental overstrain in people. The turning point is accompanied by the screams of those dying in a stampede or stampede. The crowd thins out and peace gradually sets in.

At the first stage, when panic is just beginning, it can only be stopped by loud and powerful persuasion. On the second are the planned and confident orders of those individuals who did not succumb to panic. The third is the use of a super-strong stimulus that brings people out of a state of shock or shock. Thus, in army practice a warning shot is used; in a cinema it can be a loud order to stop panic, transmitted through a megaphone, with the following instructions on where and how to move to the exit. There are cases when in theaters during a fire the entire troupe came on stage and performed the national anthem or a well-known choral song

In this situation, people stop, even for a moment, turning all their attention to the stage. This is often enough to establish contact with them and organize evacuation.

Let's say the command is given: “Stay still!”, “Get down!”, “Everyone back!” And others, the first one to carry out the command becomes a role model.

Thus, panic is an important socio-psychological phenomenon, the study of which makes it possible to explain some of the processes occurring in social groups or society during special periods of their life.

"""Back Start Forward"""

Serious passions over the Martians

A legendary case of mass panic occurred in the United States on October 30, 1938. On the radio, a correspondent from the scene reported that an alien Martian ship in the form of a metal cylinder had landed on the territory of Mercer County, from which a huge combat machine had emerged, destroying everything in its path. The report was accompanied by the sounds of explosions and screams. Almost a million (!) listeners took this information seriously and began to leave their homes in panic. Endless calls to the police and clinics, huge traffic jams, broken telephone lines, people running in terror through the streets. The passions subsided only in the morning. Unfortunately, the Americans did not hear the most important thing: a radio play based on the book “War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells, timed to coincide with Halloween, was broadcast on the radio. People did not appreciate the joke and the artistic intent.

In 2008, they decided to repeat the experience of the American radio station in Croatia. Reporters also colorfully reported how a bright spot of light was observed in the sky over Zagreb, within which a UFO was clearly visible. Surprisingly, this time everything worked: people also instantly succumbed to panic.

Psychological contagion is a special mechanism. Mechanism of infection

Infection belongs to a special method of psychological influence on a person in the process of communication and interaction, which is carried out not through consciousness and intellect, but through the emotional sphere of a person. It is one of the oldest methods of integrating group activities and is characterized by spontaneity, since it occurs primarily in situations of significant crowds of people - in stadiums, concert halls, carnivals, rallies, etc. The sources of infection go back to ancient times, and its manifestations are extremely numerous: these are contagious ritual dances, initiations, and mass psychoses that cover a large number of people, and sports excitement or religious ecstasy, etc. According to the conditions of mental infection, the process of transmitting an emotional state from one person to another occurs primarily on an unconscious level.

In psychology, infection is characterized as an unconscious, involuntary tendency of a person to certain mental states. In social psychology, contagion is the process of transferring an emotional state from one individual to another at the level of mental contact. Infection occurs through the transmission of a mental mood endowed with a large emotional charge.

Psychological contagion is a special mechanism. Mechanism of infection

At the same time, the psychological readiness of the recipient for an emotional response to the corresponding influence is also significant. A strong catalyst for emotional arousal is explosive forms of manifestation of emotions generated by the positive or negative emotional state of people, in particular contagious laughter, crying, etc. Research into the nature of mental infection indicates the fact of the presence of communicative contact between individuals who interact as the main catalyst for this phenomenon. Those

direct communication is an important feature of infection, and the strength of the increase in tension, which forms the mental background of infection, is directly dependent on the size of the audience and the degree of emotional stress of the communicator. The mechanism of socio-psychological infection comes down to the effect of multiple mutual reinforcement of emotional impacts due to the fact that they seem to be reflected from many other individuals

The presence of a chain reaction of infection is observed in large open audiences, in unorganized communities, in crowds. The constructive effect of contagion manifests itself in further strengthening group cohesion, and is also used as a means of compensating for insufficient organizational cohesion of the group. The main characteristic of suggestion is considered to be a significant decrease in a person’s criticality towards the information that comes to him, the individual’s lack of desire to check its reliability, and unlimited trust in its sources. So, suggestion or suggestion (from the Latin Suggestio) is a process of influence on the mental sphere of a person, associated with a decrease in consciousness and criticality in the perception and implementation of external information, with a lack of desire to understand, analyze and evaluate it, with trust in sources of information. As we see, the content of influence is directed not at the individual’s logic, his ability to think, analyze, evaluate, but at his readiness to receive instructions, orders, advice and act in the right direction. In this case, of course, the individual characteristics of the person on whom such a roll influence is directed are of great importance: her ability to think critically, make decisions independently, have strong beliefs, her gender, age, emotional state, degree of inspiration, etc. There are direct and indirect, intentional and unintentional suggestions. Direct suggestion involves a call to a specific action, which is transmitted by the suggestor as an order, instruction, instruction, prohibition. Under conditions of indirect suggestion, the content of information is presented by the communicator in a hidden, disguised form.

How to control a crowd

Crowd management is a complex and unpredictable process. If it is an organized passive mass of people performing actions according to an algorithm, it is not difficult to control it. If the pandemonium formed spontaneously and is aggressive or panicky in nature, it is almost impossible to stop it.

Like any psychological phenomenon, crowd psychology is used to achieve personal interests by the instigators. Such interests may include:

instilling one's own opinion;
selling goods or collecting money;
attacking people;
destruction and vandalism;
call to action.

The study of crowd types in psychology allowed scientists to highlight some features that provide tools for managing a large public.

Demonstration of strength and power. Lost in the crowd, a person instinctively begins to search for a strong participant. An unstructured, spontaneous gathering of people is quite primitive in nature, so the demonstrative use of force and authority helps to establish control over a group of people.
Expressiveness of performance. People who accidentally find themselves in a mass gathering are looking for an object of attention, a leader they can trust. Often this is an expressive individual who loudly declares his opinion and clearly expresses his emotions.
Informative speeches. An excited public demands action, not eloquent statements that make no sense. With the help of correctly selected slogans, the mood of the crowd can be adjusted and directed in the right direction.

When choosing a leader who can pacify a crowd, it is important to consider his oratory skills. More often than not, it is the right words that help to cope with tension in the crowd.

Unpunished and irresponsible

I have already said that the individual in the crowd becomes depersonalized. But besides this, there is another important point: in a crowd during the period of infection, a person also begins to feel unpunished and irresponsible. And this seems to me especially dangerous, because the effect of infection can be used deliberately, to control the crowd for one’s own selfish interests. For example, for mass protests, provocations during peaceful demonstrations, inciting aggression, and even for carrying out revolutionary coups. The crowd is short-sighted and stupid, infinitely gullible and overly sensitive. Real reality fades into the background. The mood in the crowd is always hyperbolic and exaggerated.

Suggestion is one of the forms of influence

One of the frequently observed forms of mental infection is suggestion, or suggestion - from the Greek word “suggestio” (suggestion, hint, addition). Or rather, not even a form, but a prerequisite for the development of mental infection.

Suggestion is defined as a mental influence on an individual, accompanied by suppression of his level of development: criticism of sources of information, ability to analyze and conscious activity.

The essence of this influence is that the influence is aimed precisely at his readiness for certain actions, behavioral factors, while simultaneously suppressing logic and thinking abilities. In other words, suggestion is one of the most powerful forms of influence, along with hypnosis and zombification. Suggestion differs from mental infection precisely in that the source of suggestion is located at a level above the suggested, thereby controlling the situation in the relationship. Which ultimately often becomes one of the root causes of mental infection.

The result of suggestion primarily depends on both sides of the influence: the suggestor (source) and the suggestor (recipient). Their level of development, as well as their ability to build relationships, directly influence the resulting effect of suggestion as a method of psychological infection.

Mass hysteria

History knows many examples of mass hysteria and infections. For example, there is a known case that occurred in 1500 in a Belgian monastery. One nun fasted for a long time, and due to exhaustion, she began to experience visual hallucinations and hysterical laughter; she froze in different positions, screamed, uttered delusional phrases, and bent over in convulsions. The “disease” began to spread quickly: the nuns, one after another, became infected with this behavior. They also began to run, jump, laugh and scream, and cause bodily harm to themselves. It all ended in the traditions of the Middle Ages: some of them were burned at the stake as the culprits of the “demonic epidemic.”

From Nikita Nepryakhin’s book “I Manipulate You”

Or another case is known, called the “Dance of St. Vitus.” Hundreds of excited people, shouting and screaming, danced furiously on the city streets until they were completely exhausted. Similar stories are documented in Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany in the 13th–17th centuries.

Contamination in advertising. Infection

Many psychologists define mental infection as the unconscious, involuntary exposure of an individual to certain mental influences. It manifests itself not through the conscious acceptance of some information or patterns of behavior, but through the direct transmission of a certain emotional state. Here the individual does not experience deliberate pressure, but unconsciously assimilates the behavior patterns of other people, obeying them.

The infection mechanism most often manifests itself in conditions of random, unplanned purchases and queues. Here advertising is distributed and acts instantly. However, the role of contagion in advertising has not been sufficiently studied; it is often identified with imitation.

G. Lebon, analyzing such a mental mechanism of social influence as contagion, wrote that mental contagion, or, as he called it, “psychic infection,” is most characteristic of the crowd and contributes to the formation of special properties in it.

“Infection is a phenomenon,” writes G. Le Bon, “which is easy to indicate, but not to explain; it must be classified as a hypnotic phenomenon... In a crowd, every feeling, every action is contagious, and to such an extent that the individual very easily sacrifices his personal interests to the collective interest.

The mechanism of mental infection (example of G. Lebon)

G. Le Bon describes a case that he interprets as an example of the mechanism of mental infection. One ship was looking for another, from which it had been separated by a storm. The sailors peered carefully into the distance. It was daytime and the sun was shining brightly. Suddenly a sentry noticed an abandoned ship and loudly notified the crew. All the sailors and officers looked in the same direction and clearly saw a raft loaded with people and attached by a tug to the boats on which distress signals were installed. The captain of the ship sent help to the dying.

Approaching the scene of the disaster, the officers and sailors clearly saw people pulling their hands towards them, and heard the noise of a large number of voices. When the boats finally approached this place, it turned out that there was nothing there except a few branches with leaves blown by the wind from the neighboring shore. Thus, it was only a collective hallucination. Since there was a lot of evidence of this case, G. Le Bon considered this case as real and tried to describe the mechanism of such “mental infection.” He writes: “In this example, we can clearly trace the mechanism of the formation of collective hallucination. On the one hand we have the crowd in a state of expectant attention, on the other we have the suggestion made by the sentry who saw the abandoned ship at sea; this suggestion, already through infection, spread to all those present, both officers and sailors” (Lebon G., 1998. P. 23).

Such behavior, however, is contrary to human nature, and therefore a person is capable of it only when he is part of the crowd” (Lebon G., 1998).

In practice, the phenomenon of mental contagion as a method of advertising influence manifests itself during mass events and is especially effective among young people. For example, during various rock concerts, specific technical devices (strobe lights, reverberators, smoke sprayers, etc.) are used to enhance the effect of infection. Such exposure, together with greater physical activity, ensures an increase in the amount of fluid consumed, tonic drinks, wine, low-alcohol drinks, etc. In this case, the teenager often makes a purchase both because he feels thirsty and because he sees how others do it. Discotheques sell discs, souvenirs, T-shirts, postcards and other attributes of a “party member” belonging to a certain category of fans of a particular musical genre. And the “communication” itself in a circle of like-minded people represents a kind of jointly experienced emotional state, which is held not just as a musical concert, but as an interactive “disco show”, for which the organizers receive a lot of money.

This is interesting! Emotional infection on the Internet

We ourselves do not notice how much we all succumb to the effect of infection. Not long ago, leading US universities, together with the social network Facebook, conducted an interesting study in which 700,000 users took part. Scientists were interested in how much the news feed influences us. What did it turn out to be?

If the user saw the maximum number of positive posts, then his mood improved and he himself began to post posts that were relevant in spirit. If there was a lot of negative news in the feed, then the user himself began to publish information with an obvious negative connotation. Therefore, in the 21st century. In all seriousness, we can talk about such a phenomenon as Internet infection, or online infection.

By the way, Facebook was much scolded and criticized for this experiment. Firstly, the users did not consent to the experiment. And secondly, the results of the study shocked many. After all, it turns out that a social network can deliberately evoke certain emotions in users by manipulating their state.

Classification of types of panic

There are classifications of panic according to various criteria.

By scale

distinguish between individual, group and mass types of panic in psychology. In the case of group and mass panic, the number of people affected by it is different: group - from two or three to several tens and hundreds of people (if they are scattered), and mass - thousands or more people. In addition, panic should be considered mass when in a limited enclosed space (ship, house, etc.) it covers the majority of people, regardless of their total number.

By depth of coverage

we can talk about mild, medium and complete panic.

Mild panic occurs when transport is delayed, when there is an unexpected strong signal, and the like. At the same time, the person maintains almost complete self-control and criticality. Outwardly, this manifests itself in bewilderment, anxiety, muscle tension, etc.

Medium panic is characterized by a significant deformation of conscious assessments of what is happening, a decrease in criticality, an increase in fear, and susceptibility to external influences (for example, buying goods in stores when there are rumors of price increases, in case of minor transport accidents, various natural disasters).

Complete panic is panic with loss of consciousness, affective, characterized by incapacity and occurs when there is a feeling of great mortal danger. In this state, a person completely loses conscious control over his behavior - he can run in an unknown direction, carry out various chaotic actions, actions that exclude their critical assessment, rationality and ethics (a classic example is the panic on the Titanic and Admiral Nakhimov ships, in the latter case, the speed of events did not allow panic to fully develop, as well as during wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, etc.).

By duration

The following types of panic are distinguished: short-term - from several seconds to several minutes (panic on a bus, lost control), fairly long-term - from ten minutes to several days (earthquake), prolonged - from several days to several weeks (panic during the siege of Leningrad, after the Chernobyl accident). IN. Molyako introduces the concept of “continuous panic,” which characterized the state of affairs after the Chernobyl accident.

People who were panicked exhibited the following behavior patterns:

Inadequate assessment of the situation, exaggeration of danger, desire to escape;
Increased fussiness, chaotic behavior, or inhibition;
Decreased discipline and performance;
Search for sedatives (medicines, alcohol)
The desire to obtain information, increased interest in all messages, rumors, news.

“The most dangerous epidemic now is psychopathy”

PEOPLE ARE IN AN INFORMATION TRAP

For several weeks I was very busy with work, did not follow the news and did not go to the store.
And so, one day when I came shopping, I discovered that there was no buckwheat or pasta on the shelves... Then, as a psychologist, I began to observe people, listen to their conversations. Fortunately, I didn’t see any fights for food. Some treated the shopping process and half-empty shelves with humor, they were not upset, and it seemed that they had accidentally fallen into a wave of panic buying - they really had run out of buckwheat and pasta at home. In general, the term “panic” (from the Greek “panikon”) means “unaccountable horror.” And the word “panikon” itself comes from the name of the Greek goat-shaped god Pan, the patron saint of shepherds, pastures, and herds. He was periodically attacked by fits of wild anger, thereby causing frantic excitement in the herds, and they, maddened by their horror, could rush into the abyss or fire at once. These were the games Pan played.

And today, in order for human panic to arise, something shocking, unusual must happen, focusing all attention on itself and changing people’s behavior.

It would seem that we have all been familiar with viruses for a long time, but the new coronavirus has been erected on an information pedestal. “Information contamination” has begun. And although much has already been said that this virus is not the deadliest on Earth (much more people die from other diseases and under other circumstances), due to the fact that COVID-19 has been poorly studied, rumors and speculation have begun to spread. Moreover, they began to penetrate from all possible sources - their social circle, the media, the Internet, social networks, WhatsApp chats, which are a channel for the dissemination of “viral” information. People find themselves in an information trap, whether they want it or not, they are forced to focus on the topic of coronavirus and, in addition, on the sharp rise in the exchange rate of the dollar and euro. And if a person’s very first reaction - fear - is not suppressed, then it intensifies. This is how panic begins. As Franklin Roosevelt said: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” A very wise phrase. That is, fear alone is enough for global changes in society. And in the case of coronavirus, daily reports on the number of cases and deaths, border closures and quarantines have led to an exponential increase in fear. The virus was somewhere far away in China, but now it is already in Moscow, Tatarstan, nearby. A moment of urgency arises, requiring a person to quickly make a decision, which interferes with a calm, logical understanding of the situation. Fear is cross-fear, that is, if someone was not afraid, then, looking at others, they also begin to get scared.

So why do people crowd together? In order to understand this, it is enough to observe animals, herds, schools of fish that are trying to avoid attacks from predators. When you are in a crowd, especially in the center of it, there is a chance that you will not be eaten. This is an instinct of self-preservation.

Panic is quite difficult to study - it is difficult to record its onset and remain an observer. I can say for myself that when I came to the store with half-empty shelves, I was also overcome by a feeling of anxiety, and I left the outlet with a full basket of groceries. It was mirror neurons that worked: imitating the behavior of others is characteristic of all primates, and humans are the highest primates. Although, in principle, I am not prone to panic, because I believe in evidence-based medicine, I am a member of groups of the medical community that practice this approach, and I listen only to authoritative doctors.

A high level of development and self-awareness (that is, how much more important your own opinion is than others) is a kind of vaccination, partial protection against psychological infection Photo: “BUSINESS Online”

A HIGH LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT AND SELF-AWARENESS IS A VACCINATION AGAINST PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTAMINATION

During panic, several socio-psychological mechanisms influence human behavior at once: communicative (communication), perceptual (feelings, impressions), interactive (change in psychological mood). Panic is always accompanied by psychological infection and suggestion - these are its two inseparable companions, its permanent retinue.

Psychological contagion is, in general, a mechanism required by nature in order to integrate group activities, for example, to unite sports fans in stadiums. Mass religious ecstasy or politically charged mass psychosis is also a socio-psychological infection. This is an unconscious, involuntary tendency of a person to certain mental states. For this to happen, passions must become intense, an emotional charge must be created, and feelings must be heightened.

Contagion is expressed through two functions - integrative (unifying), used to enhance the monolithic nature of the group, and expressive.

For example, in fascist Germany, Hitler’s supporters were forced to collectively listen to the Fuhrer’s speeches and sing songs - then feelings were heightened, emotional charge was heightened, and they became infected with loyalty to Adolf Hitler and his party. This was the integrative function of infection.

The second (expressive) function is expressed in the relief of mental stress - sporting competitions, mass concerts of stars. Everyone remembers what happened to the girls at The Beatles performances. The mechanism of infection comes down to the fact that the mutual emotional impact of partners is greatly enhanced. For example, we now regularly share news about the coronavirus and, by retelling it, we add emotion. Thus, we create a general psychological background of infection. An important role in the infection process is played by common assessments and judgments. In Nazi Germany, a concept was developed to increase the effectiveness of influence on Hitler's supporters. Looking through the chronicles and documentary records of their congresses, one can trace how they were deliberately brought to emotional ecstasy.

The extent of infection to which people succumb depends on the level of development of a particular individual. A high level of development and self-awareness (that is, how much more important your own opinion is than others) is a kind of vaccination, a partial protection against psychological infection. At the same time, the high level of development of society, unfortunately, is powerless against the instinct of self-preservation. Since the majority of the population is still susceptible to psychological infection and panic.

Another helper of panic, as I noted, is suggestion - the process of targeted psychological influence of one person on another or others. It may be completely unsubstantiated, but it will become effective if a person or group’s conscious control and criticality are weakened. A sign of suggestion is close contacts between people: we haven’t communicated so closely for a long time. Moreover, suggestion is mediated by the individual characteristics of those who communicate. Please note that in “viral” mailings there is always some “expert” who knows everything better than others, who almost himself visited the epicenter of the coronavirus and got sick. The clearer and more specific the details of such a story, the more people believe it. Of course, suggestibility is also important. Usually suggestible people have a reduced level of awareness of influence and critical thinking; they do not always know how to distinguish lies from the truth. Moreover, people can refuse true information in favor of false information that is closer to their spirit and acceptance by consciousness. This is clearly visible in the anti-vaccine movement. They also have a fairly strong level of suggestibility; they very often do not want to see truthful information.

Suggestion often occurs in verbal (verbal) form, but the main thing is that its content is not aimed at logic and the ability to think and analyze, but at the willingness of the suggested person to receive orders and instructions. Since older people are susceptible to a more severe course of the coronavirus disease, they are now the most suggestible. Therefore, the authority of the information source is of great importance.

In this mechanism of infection and imitation, a person’s tendency to depersonalization plays a serious role, that is, when the opinions of others become more decisive and important for him than his own, he literally “dissolves” in society.

The causes of panic can theoretically be divided into several groups: physiological, psychological and socio-psychological Photo: pixabay.com

A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF PANIC—RADIO STAGE OF “WAR OF THE WORLDS”

Panic does not depend on the size of the group, and its occurrence has nothing to do with the development of society. It is initiated by rumors, media, events. The most classic example of panic, which is described in world literature, is the radio dramatization of H. G. Wells’ science fiction novel “War of the Worlds.” Then radio was a living source of information for everyone, just as the Internet is now for us. Before the radio performance, listeners were warned about the dramatization, then they were introduced to messages that allegedly came from astronomer scientists who claimed that a Martian object was approaching the Earth. Afterwards, the radio actors conducted something like an online report from the landing site of aliens who sowed death and destruction around them. People believed in a real invasion, that a war had broken out, and panic began! And, most importantly, in the end, even those who heard from the announcer that the report was just a production of a literary work believed it. There were even people who testified that they had personally seen Martians! Imagine how much the radio dramatization affected the people! American psychologists then analyzed these events, people's behavior and the psychological characteristics of the impact of propaganda in the media. They emphasized that the personal characteristics of citizens exposed to information influence were of great importance. The first to start saving themselves were people with a low level of education, those who were lonely, those who were in conflict with others, those who were dissatisfied with life, and those who were anxious. They are the most emotionally shaken - they have a reduced level of rational analysis and criticality (critical assessment of the real situation).

The causes of panic can theoretically be divided into several groups: physiological, psychological and socio-psychological. Physically weakened people, lack of sleep, frequently drinking alcohol, and those who have experienced shock are not able to quickly and correctly assess the situation. And this is a condition for panic to arise for physiological reasons. Strong surprise, sudden fear, uncertainty, a feeling of isolation, awareness of defenselessness, powerlessness in the face of danger - these are the psychological causes of panic. Loss of trust in management, shortage or excess of information (and at first, true and false are mixed), fear-mongering in society, the media, lack of group solidarity, expressed in the rapid change of opinion of each individual (yesterday I still did not believe in the danger of the virus, but today I do ), - all these are socio-psychological causes of panic.

Panic can also be classified by scale - group (from a few to hundreds of people), mass (from a thousand or more people, or a small but entire society in a confined space, for example on a ship) or individual (some people also have so-called panic attacks). attacks, but this is a separate topic).

You can measure the strength and depth of panic. A person experiences mild panic quite often, for example, if he is very late for something and there is no transport, but at the same time he maintains composure and criticality. Medium panic is characterized by a significant deformation of conscious assessments of what is happening, fear and the level of pliability to external influences increase. In particular, this could be the purchase of food and other goods, which we observed. Complete panic is characterized by a loss of consciousness, a person’s incapacity, and a state of passion due to a feeling of mortal danger. That is, people become a herd that angers the god Pan, which can run chaotically in an unknown direction and fall into the abyss. The film “Titanic” illustrates quite clearly complete panic, as well as any global upheaval: wars, earthquakes, hurricanes.

You can also measure the duration of the panic. It can be short-term - from several seconds to several minutes (mild panic), long-term from 10 minutes to several days (in the case of an earthquake, for example) and prolonged - from several days to several weeks (occurs with a strong threat, on a large scale). Some scientists also introduce the concept of “continuous panic,” but not everyone agrees with this definition, so I will not touch on it within the framework of this topic.

The situation with coronavirus is special and has already gone beyond a medical problem. The pandemic hits the economy, transport links, cultural and sports life Photo: BUSINESS Online

THIS IS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE LAST LEVEL OF HUMAN PROTECTION

A person gripped by panic is characterized by an inadequate assessment of the situation, exaggeration of the danger, and the desire to “flee,” that is, to move somewhere, do something—in the case of the coronavirus, everyone went to get groceries. During panic, people are also characterized by increased fussiness and chaotic actions. In general, there are three main strategies for behavior in case of panic - “run away”, “hide” and “fight”. In this case, in any case, discipline and efficiency decrease. Taking sedatives or alcohol occurs. There is a desire to receive information, there is an increased demand for all messages in a row - rumors, news.

The situation with coronavirus is special and has already gone beyond a medical problem. The pandemic is hitting the economy, transport links, cultural and sports life. Naturally, a wide mass of people succumb to the influence of panic, their psyche cannot stand it, and hysteria grows.

There are several options for responding to the problem. At first, many calmly accepted the news of an epidemic in a distant country as affecting only representatives of the Mongoloid race. The next level of reaction occurred when the virus entered Europe and began to infect Europeans who looked similar to Russians. The third stage of increasing anxiety was the penetration of the disease into our country along with foreigners. And here anxiety and exacerbation of xenophobia have already begun - remember how in Siberia Buryat musicians were not allowed into the hotel, being mistaken for Chinese? The fourth stage was the defeat of the Russians by the virus, but at first some still considered this to be rumors. However, soon information began to arrive about people falling ill from distant circles in Moscow (I also have relatives, friends and acquaintances there). And I began to worry, especially about elderly relatives who are at risk. When Muscovites arrived in Chelny, I did not experience any anxiety, but I caught myself thinking that they could already be infectious, but not yet know about it - here it is, the channel of transmission of the virus... The next stage, when the problem has already arisen in Tatarstan - among people immediate surroundings. This is the destruction of the last level of protection in humans. At the same time, there is a moment of escalation, inflating the situation, there is a manipulation of public consciousness. This triggers panic, which spreads faster than the virus, since it itself is also a virus.

Doctors are urged not to believe fakes, they try to give objective information, but they are hard to hear. But some media personalities are heard well - for example, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson , who decided to be extremely honest with the British public, publicly stating “that many families will lose their loved ones ahead of time.” All media reported this. Instead of directing people’s reactions in the right direction and calming down the panic, a real hysteria that was beneficial to someone was provoked, against the background of which trade increased, including illiquid goods.

Yes, we cannot say that coronavirus is harmless, but if we look at how deadly it is, we will see that it is not even included in the top 15 diseases with mass deaths (tuberculosis, hepatitis, etc.). Today, many die from gluttony, excess weight, or more precisely, from concomitant diseases of the cardiovascular system (heart attacks, strokes).

The most dangerous epidemic now is psychopathy.

Often there is emotion embedded in media reports, but it needs to be separated from facts, otherwise the news can make people feel worse Photo: pixabay.com

IT IS IMPORTANT TO FOLLOW NOT ONLY THE CLEANITY OF YOUR HANDS, BUT ALSO THE CLEANITY OF YOUR COMMUNICATION

What to do in a situation of hysteria? Firstly, there are people who follow all the news. It’s important for them to understand where the news came from—it’s not the news itself that matters, but its source. Often there is emotion embedded in media reports that need to be separated from facts, otherwise the news can make people feel worse. Sometimes a false message is given a truthful tone. It is necessary to limit the time you spend watching news. After all, in the 20th century, people made do with reading the morning and evening newspapers, that is, they received information only twice a day.

Remember - just recently we discussed a possible military confrontation with America... It was a real threat. And then suddenly there is a coronavirus that is uncontrollable and spreading throughout the world. Fortunately, the level of medicine has increased today, and Russia quickly responded to the situation with the virus. This plays for people, not against them.

A very good way of psychological protection is to be with loved ones - people, animals. This is an excellent therapeutic agent. It is important to remember that we cannot control everything, influence the spread of the virus in the world, we need to do what we can, and do it efficiently. It is better to direct all efforts to personal protection - wash your hands more often with regular soap. Nowadays, many are carried away by antiseptics, but, as far as I know, doctors do not welcome the abuse of antibacterial agents, since they wash away the protective film of the skin and destroy the microbiome (microflora, including beneficial ones). It is necessary to apply other preventive measures recommended by doctors.

During an epidemic, it is important to monitor not only the cleanliness of your hands, but also the cleanliness of your communication - have less contact with negative people, give up a toxic environment. Toxic communication means not only personal contacts, but also correspondence in instant messengers and social networks. Perhaps you used to tolerate unpleasant acquaintances out of delicacy, feeling unwell after communicating with them, but now you need to give up this. Turn on awareness and critical thinking, move to a safe distance, like from those who cough.

We must remember that bad news does not mean the absence of good news. It's just that now our attention is focused on the negative. You need to watch more good, funny films, listen to music, read books, and get distracted. The sound background is important for a person - remember that the plague was also “fended off” by the ringing of bells; it was believed that this sound and the sound of a spoken prayer at the biological level had a beneficial effect on people. It makes sense to go to churches, mosques on the weekend to pray or take a walk, for example, next to the Seraphim Church of Sarov in the village of ZYAB - there is a wonderful bell ringer there.

It is very important to preserve immunity, which I, as a psychologist, do not consider to be a purely biological medical concept. And, according to WHO, health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not just the absence of disease. Therefore, we can say that immunity has a protective psychological component. You can't discount your emotional state. There are even special measurements of the level of immune defense of psychotherapists, who, after seeing particularly “severe” patients, analyzed the level of leukocytes that characterize immunity. It turned out that after taking the drug, the doctors’ protection decreased—the number of special protective cells dropped significantly. Immunity decreases from viewing negative news, sad news, losses, from communicating with sad, angry people.

Move more, work, keep yourself busy with something - this will also increase your protection. During the epidemic, King Henry IX squatted and did exercises until he sweated - and when many around him fell ill, his illness passed. And this is not the only fact in history.

Promise yourself something good that you will do when the epidemic is over. For example, a trip to the sea, when all roads are open, of course, or a pleasant purchase. Thus, we activate the mechanism of subconscious expectation of good things and thereby set up the immune system to avoid infection.

Nowadays people joke about themselves a lot, create ironic memes - in this way they protect themselves from panic. A sense of humor and laughter strengthen the immune system, so you need to have more fun and laugh. We all now need positivity as a kind of vaccination, a vitamin of health. It is important not to let yourself be intimidated or spread bad news. Someone needs to stop this flow of negativity! Start with yourself.

Liliya Khisamutdinova

Contamination in advertising. The role of suggestion, infection and imitation in advertising

For advertising, it is important to avoid intrusiveness and create the appearance of a person’s independent choice. This kind of influence, when a person is ignorant of the true motives of the communicator and considers himself responsible for its result, is called manipulation

Numerous techniques and methods of this kind are based on the socio-psychological mechanisms of suggestion, infection and imitation. They are an important part of the formation of new and actualization of potential needs.

Suggestion

Suggestion in advertising is carried out in different ways. One of the popular techniques of suggestion is testemonium. The advertising message based on it uses the authority of famous personalities. The choice of the intermediary through whom the suggestion is carried out depends on its popularity in the target audience of the appeal. This could be an actor, singer, athlete, politician or any other public person. There are a lot of examples of such advertising: Savage clothing is associated by a certain audience with Ksenia Sobchak, Larisa Dolina with weight loss products, Maria Shukshina with an advertisement for AOS dishwashing detergent, Yulia Menshova with an advertisement for Black Pearl cream, actress Miroshnichenko advertised calcium trinicomed, Yakovleva advertised Losk washing powder, popular singer Dima Bilan advertised Gloria jeans, etc.

However, testemonium is not always productive

As already noted, according to the laws of perception, it is important that the product be a figure against a neutral background

The image of a celebrity itself focuses the attention of viewers and can distract attention from the product being offered. Advertising specialist David Ogilvy noted the following on this matter: “The celebrity will be remembered, the product will be forgotten.”

A product will be remembered if the celebrity is related to the product - the object of advertising. We believe that it is more logical for famous musicians to advertise musical instruments, and athletes to advertise sports equipment. And then the result will not be long in coming. Thus, revenue from the sale of Nike sporting goods with Michael Jordan paraphernalia amounted to $2.6 billion.

The testimonies of experts included in advertising, that is, those who know a lot about the product, are also justified. Thus, introducing the image of a doctor into cigarette advertising may contribute not to the ban on smoking, but to the sale of cigarettes. In the 40s In the 20th century, there was a popular advertising poster where a smiling doctor held out a pack of “Lucky”. The inscription on the poster said: “20,679 * doctors say: “Lucky” makes your throat less sore.” An asterisk meant that these doctors were counted by a real company specializing in statistics. Sometimes there is no need to even include a man in a white coat in an advertisement. It is only necessary to form the right association. Thus, an advertisement for decaffeinated coffee from the Can brand featured an actor who starred in the role of Dr. Marcus Welby for many years. It was no coincidence that advertisers hired him; they understood that for the audience he was a real doctor. The calculation met expectations - sales of Banka brand coffee grew, and the video was not removed from the screen for several years. The mechanism of suggestion is so strong that even the knowledge that the advertising involves actors playing roles, and not real patients, people with problems, does not block its actions.

Causes of panic

The reasons that contribute to the emergence or intensification of panic are quite diverse, and despite this, they can be combined into three groups - physiological, psychological and socio-psychological.

The first group includes phenomena that cause conditions for panic and physically weaken people. These are, in particular, fatigue and depression, hunger and intoxication, prolonged insomnia or mental shock. Each of the reasons mentioned seriously weakens a person’s ability to quickly and correctly assess a situation that arises suddenly.

The second group includes such psychological phenomena as strong surprise, great uncertainty, sudden fear, a feeling of isolation, and awareness of powerlessness in the face of danger.

The third group includes a lack of group solidarity, loss of trust in management, and a lack or excess of information that increases tension. This also leads to a decrease in the ability to rationally and correctly assess the situation.

Psychic infection in the crowd.

According to social psychologists, it is easier to control a crowd than one person. It's all about the leader, who can motivate the crowd to take the necessary actions. Usually these are the most active people from the same crowd. But history knows many examples of provocateurs with leadership qualities infiltrating crowds.

The term “Psychic Contagion exists.” 1.5% of the crowd’s activists can “Rock it up” and drive it into a frenzy. The leader's main task is to influence the feelings, not the minds of the crowd. It has long been noticed that people, overwhelmed by an emotional impulse, do things that are unusual for them in their normal state. This effect is enhanced if the environment does the same. The crowd effect is contagious and contagious; in a crowd, a person loses his critical attitude to what is happening, and suggestibility increases. The simpler and more absurd the slogans put forward, the more often they are repeated, the more responsive and trusting the crowd is to them. The inspired idea becomes the truth.

The crowd does not tolerate discussions or objections; they cause irritation and aggression in them. The crowd does not care about the causes of any problem and how to eliminate it

It is important for the crowd to find the “Switchman” who is to blame for everything. After this, it doesn’t take much effort to arouse hostility and anger among the crowd.

In the crowd, everyone is equalized, the humanity in people is leveled, and the crowd becomes homogeneous, aggressive and easily controlled. The scenario of action and the psychology of the crowd have not changed over thousands of years. People don't learn from history.

But how then can we explain a person’s need to be in a crowd? According to Erich Fromm, people, being social creatures, very often feel lonely outside of society; being in a crowd gives them a feeling of confidence and security.

When people find themselves in a crowd and feel like they are part of a whole organism, they lose their individuality in return. This is the sacrifice they bring to the altar of the phenomenon called “The Crowd”. A person becomes “like everyone else” and acts “like everyone else,” often without realizing it. When people detained during mass protests were shown operational recordings of their actions, they very often could not explain their actions.

Another crowd effect is the inexplicable increase in a person's physical strength. For example, as is known from the investigative chronicle, a person performs incredible “Feats”: he can overturn a heavy car, a bench that turns up, or uproot a tree.

The same effect is observed in animals. A migrating herd of gazelles will never stray from their path, even if there is a pride of lions on the way. Moreover, the lions will not make any attempts to attack the herd, but will quietly wait. A moving stream can easily overwhelm you, and this is inevitable death. Going against the crowd is the surest end.

Do you see what I'm getting at?

With the right rhetorical techniques, it is very easy to instill the desired feeling in a crowd. And then it’s a matter of little things, the infection effect will do everything itself. In addition, the most ridiculous rumors instantly spread in the crowd, which will be easily accepted as truth. The crowd has a very low level of intelligence, but heroism and enthusiasm prevail. The crowd is cruel and always ready for violence, because responsibility is eroded. The crowd is always ready to commit a crime, although in real life every single individual would never dare to do so.

The power of the crowd and public opinion is limitless. We believe the crowd, we follow the crowd, we copy the crowd. There is a lot we still don’t know about ourselves and those around us. I am sure that we will have a lot of interesting and unexpected discoveries in this area. But the fact remains: social influence is one of the most invisible and dangerous types of manipulation that each of us willingly succumbs to, even if we deny it. Because our instincts are involved.

Photo from Pinterest

Persuasion in psychology. Analysis of definitions of the concept of persuasion in psychology

The concept of persuasion in social psychology is given the following definitions:

1. Belief is a person’s system of ideological knowledge that has passed through his mind, feeling and will.

2. Conviction is a set of diverse influences on a person with the aim of developing socially necessary qualities in him.

3. Persuasion is the motivation of a person to perform a certain activity. To persuade means to motivate people by word, deed, example and purposeful organization of the social sphere.

4. Conviction is a personal formation that represents a person’s attitude to reality and is characterized by the unity of cognitive and need-personal components. The qualities of persuasion depend on the method of assimilation of certain knowledge and opinions and evaluations.

Persuasion is an influence on the consciousness, feelings, will of people through communication, explanation and proof of the importance of a particular position, view, action or their inadmissibility in order to force the listener to change existing views, attitudes, positions, attitudes and assessments or to share the thoughts or ideas of the speaker

Persuasion is the main, most universal method of leadership and education. The mechanism of persuasion is based on the activation of human mental activity, on appealing to the rational side of consciousness. It is assumed that the person being persuaded must make a conscious choice of ways and means to achieve the goal, i.e.

to convince, you need to attract the attention of the target, present and explain new information, and make impressive arguments

To convince someone of something means to achieve a state where the person being convinced, as a result of logical reasoning and inference, agrees with a certain point of view and is ready to defend it or act in accordance with it.

The main means of persuasion are a graphic sign, an image, the timbre of speech, a gesture, facial expressions, emotional and volitional states, the rhythm of speech and actions, the light and color of a visual aid, the results of work, the status and authority of the persuader. It should be added that not all people are equally willing to accept the point of view of the influencer. Most often, only information that is consistent with existing attitudes is perceived.

In this case, the concept that we will consider in this work is most fully reflected in the fifth definition; it is complemented by the third and fourth definitions. At the same time, we understand, of course, the dialectical relationship and unity of all these aspects of belief.

Whose emotions are you feeling?

It may seem that these emotions are not yours at all, you “picked them up” from others. But this is not entirely true. If you experience them, then they are yours, you experience them fully and sincerely, they are not artificial, and have no less influence on you than all other feelings.

A similar effect is manifested in the influence of art on the masses. When you watch a movie or read a book, you empathize with the characters, share their grief and joy, you experience certain feelings in a safe environment and receive emotional release. The situation is not real, you know that it was invented by someone, but the feelings that you experience are very real.

Emotional contagion, what is it?

Is that possible? The answer became obvious after the discovery of mirror neurons - neurons in the brain that are excited both when performing a certain action and when observing another person performing this action. Your loved one hit himself - you also shuddered and winced, although you know that you definitely didn’t hit yourself. He was scared, you can be scared too.

Your boyfriend gets angry and you get angry back. He raises his voice, and you raise your voice, and before you know it, you are both shouting at each other, on the spur of the moment. “Thank you” to mirror neurons. You can’t explain to them that five minutes ago you weren’t at all angry with your boyfriend. And he, perhaps, was not angry with you, he had already come like this - infected by the mood of his boss or colleague, or the person who was sitting next to him on the subway.

The main characteristic signs of mental infection

Summarizing the above and other numerous established facts, we can say that the mechanism of mental infection is characterized by the following components:

There is a direct dependence of the degree of influence on the quality and quantity of the action catalyst.
The presence of a chain reaction effect of the process and mutual reinforcement (increase) of its magnitude. An example is infection with enthusiasm in any field of activity.
The versatility of the manifestation of the process of mental infection.
The dependence of the depth of mental infection on the level of development of the individual and society as a whole.

I would like to note the last point. The following pattern is observed - the higher the level of development of society and the individual in particular, the more difficult they are to be influenced in the form of mental infection and suggestion. In other words, their intelligence calls into question all behavioral factors emanating and imposed from the outside.