Crowd identification predicts helping and reduces pushing in evacuation simulations.

Evidence

In one study (N = 72), we randomly assigned student participants to low vs. high shared identification conditions. In the low-identification condition, we asked participants to think of themselves in terms of their personal identity and we described the crowd in the simulation as “tourists, shoppers, and commuters”, in the high-identification condition, we asked participants to think of themselves in terms of their identity as students and we described the crowd as “fellow students”. However, our manipulation checks found that levels of identification with the crowd were close to the scale mid-point across conditions – possibly because the manipulation was not engaging enough – which meant that we could not test for group differences. Nevertheless, regression analyses showed that identification with the crowd predicted the number of helping behaviours and (negatively) the number of times other characters were pushed aside, in line with the social identity explanation. In addition, concern for others mediated the relationship between social identification and helping behaviour. — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 56

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The psychological crowd is an adaptive survival resource in emergencies — John Drury and Chris Cocking and Steve Reicher, Everyone for themselves? A comparative…, 126; Shared identity with a crowd converts density from threat into safety — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 150; Witnessing identity-mates panic or flee can spread that behaviour through crowds — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 17 (+9 more)

Related

• Group membership framing boosts helping and reduces pushing in emergency simulations. (similarity 0.91)
• Shared identity with a crowd increases helping and decreases pushing others aside. (similarity 0.88)
• Shared identity turns crowds from irrational mobs into solidarity-based adaptive resources (similarity 0.87)
• Shared identity with a crowd converts density from threat into safety (similarity 0.85)
• A shared identity can emerge within a crowd only after an emergency begins. (similarity 0.85)
• Crowd density lowers felt safety only for those weakly identifying with the crowd. (similarity 0.85)
• Shared social identity produces adaptive psychosocial resilience that aids group survival in emergencies. (similarity 0.84)
• Shared identity that enables crowd helping often emerges during an emergency rather than pre-existing. (similarity 0.84)
• The psychological crowd is an adaptive survival resource in emergencies (similarity 0.83)
• Crowds during disasters are a resource for support, not a panic problem. (similarity 0.83)
• Emergency evacuation behaviour can be experimentally tested with a computer-simulated fire scenario. (similarity 0.83)
• Shared identity creates orderliness that makes routine dangerous crowding survivable (similarity 0.82)
• People act collectively in emergencies despite being conditioned toward individual self-interest. (similarity 0.82)
• Shared emergent identity from common fate explains collective support amid disasters (similarity 0.82)
• Shared identity in crowds produces solidarity and expected mutual support. (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Group membership framing boosts helping and reduces pushing in emergency simulations. #corroborates (0.95) — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 57
• The psychological crowd is an adaptive survival resource in emergencies #corroborates (0.85) — John Drury and Chris Cocking and Steve Reicher, Everyone for themselves? A comparative…, 126
• Shared identity turns crowds from irrational mobs into solidarity-based adaptive resources #corroborates (0.85) — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 164
• Emergency evacuation behaviour can be experimentally tested with a computer-simulated fire scenario. #expands (0.85) — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 55
• Shared identity with a crowd converts density from threat into safety #complicates (0.80) — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 150
• Facing a shared threat transforms individuals into a psychological crowd with emergent shared identity #expands (0.80) — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 49
• Crowds arouse sub-individual instincts while organized groups transcend individuals #contradicts (0.80) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 345
• Crowd phenomena reduce to regressions in individual psyches, not group minds #contradicts (0.80)
• Crowd psychology lowers individual responsibility and boosts influence susceptibility #contradicts (0.80) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 399
• Witnessing identity-mates panic or flee can spread that behaviour through crowds #expands (0.75) — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 17
• Existing friendship and family bonds shape cooperative evacuation behavior. #qualifies (0.75) — John Drury and Evangelos Ntontis, A SOCIAL IDENTITY MODEL OF COLLECTIVE…, 14
• Observing others act together drives disaster solidarity more than identification #complicates (0.75) — John Drury and Rupert Brown and Roberto González and Daniel Miranda, Emergent social identity and observing…, 111