ABSTRACT

This chapter elaborates a concept of social collectives. Contrary to widespread uses of “collective” as an umbrella term for various social formations (e.g., communities, organizations, crowds), the proposed concept focuses on affective processes and a social psychological mechanism as essential components. Social collectives are assemblages of actors that affect and are affected by others or by a specific object or situation, eventually sharing a common and situation-specific understanding of the self as an element of a collective. They are focused, albeit fragile and transient, episodes of dynamic stabilization in reciprocal affections and self-categorizations.