Individualistic scrambling in an emergency blocks exits and increases danger

Evidence

There are dangers in groups. The attempt to stay with others and act collectively may slow the individual down and even impede crowd flow; and some group norms can be dangerous. Yet, usually in these situations, groupness confers benefits and individualism increases risk. The more that everyone in a crowd acts as an individual, the more likely it is that exits will be blocked as people fail to coordinate (Mintz, 1951). In liberating us from the restrictions of individuality (Turner et al., 1987), shared social identity in a crowd can therefore be a crucial adaptive resource. — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 164

Categorization

• CANDY: The claim that everyone acting individually makes things worse — that panic is a coordination failure — is a compact elevator fact that reverses intuition about emergencies.
• corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 164
• XREF: connects to: Disembedding mechanisms remove control from individuals and create collective risk — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 310

Related

• The psychological crowd is an adaptive survival resource in emergencies (similarity 0.85)
• People act collectively in emergencies despite being conditioned toward individual self-interest. (similarity 0.84)
• Shared identity turns crowds from irrational mobs into solidarity-based adaptive resources (similarity 0.84)
• The emergency itself, not an outgroup, can define group boundaries (similarity 0.83)
• Mass emergency behaviour stems from social identity, not panic or irrationality (similarity 0.82)
• Coordinated evacuation depends on organisation, not on the absence of emotion. (similarity 0.81)
• Shared social identity produces adaptive psychosocial resilience that aids group survival in emergencies. (similarity 0.81)
• Shared danger of death heightens unity among strangers in an emergency. (similarity 0.81)
• A shared identity can emerge within a crowd only after an emergency begins. (similarity 0.80)
• Emergencies typically produce mutual aid and orderliness rather than competitive panic. (similarity 0.80)
• Shared fate in danger makes strangers act as one group offering help. (similarity 0.80)
• Shared identity creates orderliness that makes routine dangerous crowding survivable (similarity 0.80)
• Shared identity that enables crowd helping often emerges during an emergency rather than pre-existing. (similarity 0.79)
• Group membership framing boosts helping and reduces pushing in emergency simulations. (similarity 0.79)
• Shared identity can emerge rapidly during, not before, an emergency. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Disembedding mechanisms remove control from individuals and create collective risk #expands (0.78) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 310