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Cited by 102History of Emotions ResearchEmotions and Moral BehaviorPsychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments

Emotional contagion as a precursor to collective emotions

Hatfield, Elaine, Carpenter, Megan, Rapson, Richard L.·2014·Collective Emotions
DOI 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199659180.003.0008
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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.

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Crossref · 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199659180.003.0008

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  • In a stock-market meltdown, emotional contagion, behavioral mimicry or similar socio-dynamic processes create an affectively charged situation and result in quasi-collective behavior that eventually harms all shareholders.

    “Now, via emotional contagion (Hatfield et al., 2014), behavioral mimicry or similar socio-dynamic processes motivating the individuals’ actions, the individual shareholders’ mass-selling of their own stocks creates an affectively charged situation (a spiral of fear, distrust or ‘collective hysteria’) and results in a quasi-collective behavior, eventually harming all shareholders.”

    From Collaborative Irrationality, Akrasia, and Groupthink: Social Disruptions of Emotion Regulation (2017) · cites this paper as Hatfield et al., 2014

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Authors
Hatfield, E., Carpenter, M., & Rapson, R. L.
ORCID
Hatfield, Elaine
Venue
Collective Emotions
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Published
2014-01-30
Pages
108-122
DOI
10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199659180.003.0008
OpenAlex
W2487867701
Cited by
102
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 4
FWCI
221.49
Type
book chapter
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Oxford University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › History of Emotions Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
Keywords
emotional contagion, collective emotions, group mind, hysteria, crowd psychology, social contagion, depression, loneliness, happiness, allergy, obesity, environmental hazards

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