Emotional contagion as a precursor to collective emotions

Abstract

Early writers, journalists, and sociologists such as Gustav Le Bon and Charles Mackay sparked an interest in the “group mind” and the “madness of crowds.” They explored the process of hysterical contagion in a variety of societies and natural settings. This chapter reviews the theory of primitive emotional contagion and discusses contagion as a precursor for collective emotions. In recent years, historians, medical researchers, and epidemiologists have begun to apply and extend emotional contagion theory to collective emotions and the social contagion of various mental and physical diseases. This chapter ends by reporting on the new and compelling research documenting that under a variety of conditions, individuals may catch their fellows’ moods and emotions—such as joy and happiness, depression, and loneliness; and may also display increased susceptibility to physical problems that could be sparked by intense emotion—such as allergies, obesity, reactions to chemical spills and environmental hazards, and the like.