A moral panic is a widespread fear, most often an irrational one, that someone or something is a threat to the values, safety, and interests of a community or society at large.

Evidence

A Sociological Understanding of Moral Panic (ThoughtCo)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Folktales can escalate into moral panics in troubled times. — Lynley Hood, A City Possessed, 77; The Satanic panic was a moral panic of over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse, starting in the 1980s and persisting today. — Satanic panic — Wikipedia; Cohen (1972, p. 9) defined moral panic as a condition where a group emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests, presented in a stylized way by mass media. — Moral Panic (+14 more)

Related

• Moral panic is a social phenomenon where a group is portrayed as a significant threat to societal values, resulting in heightened fear and the push for new legislation. (similarity 0.91)
• Moral panic is a widespread fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values of a community, first theorized by Stanley Cohen in 1972. (similarity 0.91)
• A moral panic happens when society reacts with exaggerated fear or anger to a group seen as a threat to moral values. (similarity 0.91)
• Cohen (1972, p. 9) defined moral panic as a condition where a group emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests, presented in a stylized way by mass media. (similarity 0.90)
• Moral panics are characterized by an exaggerated, stylized folk devil perceived as threatening the social order, which attracts public hostility. (similarity 0.86)
• The Satanic panic was a moral panic of over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse, starting in the 1980s and persisting today. (similarity 0.86)
• The concept of a permanent moral panic contradicts its definition. (similarity 0.84)
• Moral panics arise from cultural strains caused by social change and serve as mechanisms of social control reinforcing existing power dynamics. (similarity 0.83)
• Moral panics direct outrage at a single easily identified target when the real problems have more complex roots. (similarity 0.83)
• Cohen documented moral panics as sudden threats or disorders involving mass hysteria, delusion, and panic. (similarity 0.82)
• Even if a specific moral panic does not seem to leave immediate traces of routinization, its very happening may leave memories and cognitive deposits. (similarity 0.82)
• A moral panic is characterized by themes of novelty, sudden explosive growth, and menace. (similarity 0.82)
• Moral panics reflect deeper social tensions rather than real threats. (similarity 0.81)
• Sometimes the panic passes over and is forgotten, except in folklore and collective memory; at other times it has more serious and long-lasting repercussions. (similarity 0.81)
• It was the first book to define the social theory of moral panic. (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Moral panics can produce long-lasting changes in society. #expands (0.60) — Lynley Hood, A City Possessed, 55