Mass traits are released hidden dispositions, not newly created ones

Evidence

The most important consequence of Freud’s introduction of libido into group psychology is that the traits generally ascribed to masses lose the deceptively primordial and irreducible character reflected by the arbitrary construct of specific mass or herd instincts. The latter are effects rather than causes. What is peculiar to the masses is, according to Freud, not so much a new quality as the manifestation of old ones usually hidden. ‘From our point of view we need not attribute so much importance to the appearance of new characteristics. For us it would be enough to say that in a group the individual is brought under conditions which allow him to throw off the repressions of his unconscious instincts.’ This does not only dispense with auxiliary hypotheses ad hoc but also does justice to the simple fact that those who become submerged in masses are not primitive men but display primitive attitudes contradictory to their normal rational behaviour. — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 182

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the precise mechanism: mass behavior as disinhibition under specific conditions rather than emergence of a new psychic quality.