ABSTRACT
The term crowd behaviour, sometimes referred to as collective behaviour in other textbooks, needs to be defined. Surprisingly, in deciding what constitutes a human crowd, social scientists are fairly clear. Definitions vary, but there is a fair degree of similarity:
Any relatively sizeable collection of people who are in direct interaction with one another in a public place.
(Giddens, 1989)Behaviour of people en masse, such as in a crowd, protest or riot.
(Hogg and Vaughan, 1995)A large but temporary gathering of people with a common interest or focus.
(Reber, 1985)Behaviour in which large numbers of people who are in the same place at the same time behave in a uniform manner which is volatile, appears relatively unorganised, is characterised by strong emotion, and is often in violation of social norms.
(Manstead and Hewstone, 1995)