ABSTRACT
The social context is a vital consideration in the study of emotional behavior, but it is chiefly to naturalistic observations that people must look for data. Panic is an evaluative label attached to very intense stimulation-seeking behavior; it is the suddenness and intensity of the behavior that evokes the label "panic"; and there is no set of principles which explain panic as opposed to other, highly emotional forms of behavior. The reason for the strange conspiracy of silence lies in the fact that the compilers of official histories apparently confuse panic with cowardice; national pride does the rest. Examples of panic in the military are recorded in which it has been suggested that the absence of morale caused by recently enlisted or heterogeneous elements was a strong contributory factor. C. Lanham's discussion of the panic admirably illustrates the point about the importance of morale for combat effectiveness.
