A Social-Psychological Theory of Collective Anxiety Attacks: The "Mad Gasser" Reexamined
Author(s): Robert E. Bartholomew and Jeffrey S. Victor
Reviewed work(s):
Source: The Sociological Quarterly, Vol. 45, No. 2 (Spring, 2004), pp. 229-248
Published by: Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Midwest Sociological Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4121171 .
Accessed: 31/10/2012 20:49
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
.
Wiley-Blackwell and Midwest Sociological Society are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and
extend access to The Sociological Quarterly.
http://www.jstor.org
THEORYOF
A SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL
COLLECTIVE
ATTACKS:
ANXIETY
The"MadGasser"Reexamined
Robert E.Bartholomew
JamesCook University,Queensland,Australia
Jeffrey S. Victor
State Universityof New Yorkat amestown
This article presents a social-psychologicaltheory to explain collective behavior involving unusual somatic reactions.The authors term this social phenomenon a "'collective anxiety attack,"to distinguishit from the psychiatriclabel of "masspsychogenic
illness."First,the article contrasts fundamentalassumptionsof a psychiatric-medical
interpretation with a social-psychologicalinterpretation.Next, the article illustrates
the difference using a reinterpretationof and new data about the classic case of the
"mad gasser of Mattoon."Then, the authors present a social-psychological theory
which suggests that collective anxiety is induced by a shared belief in a threat rumor.
Once a belief in an imminent threat spreads widely enough to create a consensual
definition of the situation, the belief intensifies fear and distorts individual perception. Belief in the threat rumor creates psychological stress and expectancy effects
that shape an individual'ssomatic reactions,so that expectations of feeling sick result
in symptoms of sickness. In conclusion, the article suggests a program for research
and ways of managingcollective anxiety attacks.
Or in the night, imagining some fear,
How easy is a bush suppos'd a bear!
William Shakespeare,"A MidsummerNight's Dream,"
act 5, scene 1, lines 21-22
This study presents a new social-psychologicaltheory of collective behavior involving
unusual somatic reactions. The theory emphasizes the role of normal sociocultural and
social-psychological processes, rather than psychopathology. The authors apply this new
theory to the much-cited episode of the "mad gasser" of Mattoon (vide Johnson 1945),
which involved strange somatic reactions to imaginary gas attacks. In conclusion, the
authors offer applications of the theory for research and management of outbreaks of
widespread imaginary illnesses.
Direct correspondenceto Robert E. BartholomewPh.D.. 253 County Route 18. Whitehall.NY 12887:e-mail:rebartholomew@
yahoo.com
The SociologicalQuarterly,Volume45, Number2, pages229-248.
Copyright? 2004by The MidwestSociologicalSociety.
All rightsreserved.Sendrequestsfor permissionto reprintto: Rightsand Permissions,Universityof CaliforniaPress,
JournalsDivision,2000CenterSt.,Ste.303,Berkeley,CA 94704-1223.
ISSN:0038-0253;onlineISSN:1533-8525
230
THE SOCIOLOGICAL QUARTERLYVol. 45/No. 2/2004
The relevance of imagined attacks of gas and chemical weapons since the terrorist
attacks of September 11,2001, is clear. Collective imaginaryillness contributesto heightened community anxiety,because investigatorsrequire time to assess test results in their
search for a cause.It is also a significantfinancialand mobilizationburdenin terms of law
enforcement agencies, responding emergency services, public health and environmental
agencies, and the affected site, which is often closed for days or weeks. Furthermore,
diagnoses are often contested by victims,relatives,and communitymembers,fostering an
atmosphere of governmentsuspicion and mistrustthat is reflected in the media and emotionally chargedpublic forums.In the months following the September 11,2001, terrorist
attacks in the United States,and subsequent mailing of anthrax-lacedletters in October,
widespread media discussionensued about the likelihood of furtherchemical or biological attacks.As in Mattoon, but on a broader scale, within the context of heightened anxiety and alertness,a flurryof imitative illnesses followed, directlyreflectingsuch fears.
In late September when a strange odor was detected in the Los Angeles subway
system, many commuters fell ill amid fears of a terror attack. After the system was
closed and examined, no trace of any harmful substance was found, and those who felt
sick quickly recovered (Becerra and Malnic 2001). Two weeks later, a man sprayed a
mysterious substance into a Maryland subway station, resulting in 35 persons being
treated for nausea, headaches, and sore throats.The "'chemicalweapon" was later identified as a common,innocuouswindow cleaner (Lellman 2001). On September29, 2001, in
WashingtonState, harmless fumes from oil-based paints set off a bioterrorscare at Canyon Creek Middle School, sending 16 students to the hospital (Durbin and Vogt 2001).
Between October 2 and 3, an outbreak of mild flu-like symptoms swept through several
schools in Manila,the Philippines.Amid rumorsthat a bioterrorattack was underway,at
least 1,400 students deluged physicians'offices.Although some students were later confirmedas havingTypeA H1N1 influenza,health authoritiesfound that many had suffered
psychogenicreactions after terrorismrumorsspread among jittery parents and pupils via
computerized,hand-heldtext messengers(Villanueva,Payumo,and Lema 2001).
In October 2001, five envelopes containing the Ames strain of Bacillus anthracis
spores entered the U.S. postal system in Trenton,New Jersey.Of the 22 resulting anthrax
cases, 11 were inhalational (of which 5 died), 11 were cutaneous, from which all recovered (Centers for Disease Control 2001). The anthrax scare also gave rise to what Showalter (2002) terms "the Bin Laden Itch" in dozens of schools across North America.
Between October 2001 and June 3, 2002, a mysterious skin rash affecting thousands of
students in mainly primaryschools was reported at widely separated locations in 27 U.S.
states and in parts of Canada. Despite speculation as to its possible bioterror origin, a
subsequent investigation revealed a variety of mundane causes: allergens, insect bites,
bacteria, fungi, physical agents like fiberglass,chemical agents such as pesticides, and
cleaning products (Centers for Disease Control 2002a,2002b). It appears that these skin
conditions have always existed in the school system, but in the wake of bioterror fears,
students were paying excessive attention to their skin after media reports of cutaneous
anthrax.The CDC concluded:"With53 million young people attending 117,000 schools
each school day in the United States, it is expected that rashes from a wide range of
causes will be observed"(Centers for Disease Control 2002b).
Illness signs and symptoms in reaction to believed-in imaginings about the threat
from terroristsalso occurred at a Rhode Island elementary school shortly after the onset
of the 1991PersianGulf War.A studentfaintedat about the same time classmatesdetected
Social-Psychological Theory of Collective Anxiety Attacks
231
a strange smell, promptingsudden, extreme anxiety as many students apparently developed an ultrarapid group consensus that they were the subject of an Iraqi chemical
weapons attack. Seventeen seventh- and eighth-graders and four teachers from four
classrooms (n = 86) on one end of the building reported dizziness,headaches,and nausea. The Gulf War was characterized by significant mass-media publicity about likely
poison-gas attacks on Israel and perhaps the United States.Those affected were examined at a nearby emergency department where they were soon released after exhibiting
benign, transient symptoms (Rockney and Lemke 1992, 1994).
EXAMPLES
OF COLLECTIVE
ANXIETYATTACKS
WITH SOMATICREACTIONS
There are many examples of folk beliefs fostering seemingly strange behaviors that have
been widely interpreted as psychological disturbance or societal dysfunction by social
scientists.Western-trainedscientists have long disparaged non-Westernpeople's exhibiting of unpopular or unfamiliarcollective beliefs and behavior at variance with mainstream Eurocentric conceptions of normality and rationality,under the stigmatizing
label of "mass hysteria"(Bartholomew 1994a, 1997a, 2000). Over forty behaviors have
been inappropriatelylabeled as "'masshysteria"(Bartholomew 1990). This derogatory
labeling has been attributed to such widely varied collective phenomena as dance
mania, group lycanthropy,incidents of mass suicide, riots, the Salem witch hunts, and
the anti-Communist "Red Scare." However, incidents of seemingly strange beliefs
and behavior make better sense when they are understood from the participants'shared
cultural perspective (Bartholomew 1991, 1993, 1994a, 1994b).
Some of the most bizarre examples of believed-in imaginings prompting seemingly
disturbed behaviors have been recorded in non-Western countries. In Papua New
Guinea, "transientmadness"among certain tribes appears to be a calculated, theatrical
demonstration intended for social and material benefit (Clarke 1973). Exaggerated
response to startle in Malayo-Indonesia-the so-called culture-specificmental disorder
of latah-has recently been redefined as a deliberate, culturallyconditioned role affecting mostly depressed, socially isolated elderly women of Malay descent who are convinced that they have weak mental constitutions or semangat. Robert Bartholomew
(1994c, 1997b, 1999a) was able to decode such behavior only after marrying a Malay
woman who exhibited latah and interviewing family members.Australian anthropologist Harold Eastwell (1976, 1979) deconstructs"associative depressive illness"and clayeating "epidemics"among certain Aborigine clans. The former is viewed as a culturespecific expression of bereavement that has received the erroneous classification of
"collectivedepressivepsychosis."The latter"abnormality"is explicable as a coping mechanism occurring during rapid social change within certain traditional Aborigines who
view clay as pacifying and psychologicallycomforting.
How can we understand the social dynamics of collective behavior in which large
numbers of people simultaneously report strange experiences and behave in seemingly
bizarre ways? They may see or hear imaginaryfrightening things, perceive nonexistent
noxious odors, or have tactile sensations of fictitious creatures crawling on them. They
may run about aimlessly.They may feel that body parts,such as their penis or breasts,
are shrinking.They may tremble and faint or feel nauseated and vomit. These events
often erupt unpredictably,like sudden storms, and end as quickly as they appear, not
232
THESOCIOLOGICAL QUARTERLYVol. 45/No. 2/2004
lending to easy investigation.The most common explanation of these unusual events is
that they are the products of a temporary,mental malfunction ("hysteria")experienced
simultaneously by large numbers of people ("an epidemic"), which is transmitted by
subconscious imitation ("contagion"). In recent years this interpretation has been
increasingly challenged (Miller, Mietus, and Mathers 1978; Freedman 1982; McPhail
1989, 1991;Bartholomew 1990;Levy and Nail 1993;Stallings 1994).
Both authors of this article have direct experience with collective behavior events in
which believed-in imaginings created seemingly strange reactions.Victor investigated
the causes of a satanic cult rumor-panicin his community,after his teenage son received
numerous telephone death threats from fearful residents,on Friday the 13th, 1988. He
later found that the same rumor-panics erupted in over 60 other towns across the
United States during the 1980s and early 1990s (Victor 1993). Victor's analysis eventually led to a better understandingof the false memory phenomenon,in which hundredsof
women reported confabulated memories of physical and sexual abuse by their parents
duringsupposed sataniccult rituals(Victor 1998a,1998b).His researchdemonstrateshow
culturalbeliefs,in the form of contemporarylegends,can shape perceptionand memory.
While conducting ethnographic fieldwork in Malaysia,Bartholomew came into contact with his Malay wife's cousin, who was rushed to a clinic after being convinced that
his penis was shrinking.Bartholomew subsequently surveyed the literatureon collective
genital-shrinkingscares in Asia, which are almost universallyinterpreted in the medical
and psychiatric literature as "mass psychopathology."Instead, he found among the
groups affected that extreme importance is placed on fertility and that people hold folk
beliefs in the reality of an imaginarygenital-shrinkingdisease. His researchsuggests that
scientists need to be aware of how cultural beliefs affect seemingly strange individual
behavior (Bartholomew 1994a, 1998, 1999b,2000).
COGNITIVEFRAMES
AND SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL
PSYCHIATRIC
The basic problem in interpretingcollective behavior in which many people have similar
discomforting thoughts, feelings, and somatic reactions is one of professional segregation. Different humanscience professionsemploy differentcognitiveframes,or paradigms,
to interpret these collective reactions. Psychiatrists and other medical professionals
employ a psychiatricframe for analysis,whereas psychologists,sociologists, and anthropologists commonly utilize a social-psychologicalframe.These different cognitive frames
shape people's thinking about how a problem can be identified, described, explained,
and managed. These different ways of thinking focus attention on different aspects of
being human.They start from different basic assumptions about human experience and
elaborate theories of cause-and-effect starting from different sources of primarycausation. Thus, these different cognitive frames cannot be easily translated, one into the
other.
First, the terms or labels that professionals use to identify a phenomenon immediately draws one's thinking into one or the other cognitive frame.The issue is not trivial.
For example, labeling a reaction as a "symptom"rather than a "response,"evokes a different set of cognitive referents.Labeling behavior as a symptom of a "masspsychogenic
illness" immediately draws thinking into the psychiatric frame. In contrast, labeling
behavior as a response to a rumor-panicevokes the social-psychological frame.Therefore, we prefer to refer to the phenomenon under analysis as a rumor-panicor collective
Social-PsychologicalTheoryof Collective AnxietyAttacks
233
anxiety attack. These terms connote our meaning better. We deliberately try to avoid
using illness-related labels:diagnosis,hysteria,delusion, contagion, and epidemic.
Second, where the psychiatricframe focuses attention on the individual personality,
the social-psychological frame emphasizes the sociocultural context shared by many
individuals,the shared symbolic cultural meanings that influence experience.Where the
psychiatricframe focuses attention on bodily reactions and personality dynamics within
persons, the social-psychological frame focuses on shared beliefs and communication
processes between people.
Third, basic assumptions of the two cognitive frames are different. The psychiatric frame assumes that "abnormal" behavior reflects "psychopathology,"or internal
("mental") malfunction. In contrast, the social-psychological frame regards almost all
collective behavior in groups, even "unusual" (nonroutine) behavior, as guided by
shared social norms and culturalexpectations.Even in unusual social situations,the similar behavior of people is guided by a group's shared definition of the situation (the
product of a group's consensual validation of reality). The social-psychological frame
regards almost all notions of "bizarre"or "abnormal"behavior as highly value laden
and judgmental, from the standpoint of cultural expectations.The assertion that collective behavior is "irrational" (without reason, absurd) engenders skepticism among
scholars employing the social-psychological frame, because it regards "rational"and
"irrational"behavior as culture-bound notions, even when held by professional experts
in a particularculture.
Fourth, the ways in which these two frames analyze causation is another departure
point.The psychiatricframe is fundamentallyconcerned with findingthe "initial"(beginning) cause of a malfunction,much like identifyingthe noxious factor ("etiology")in diagnosing symptoms of bodily disease. In contrast, the social-psychologicalframe seeks to
identify symbolic meanings in the transmissionof influence between people, which can
explain shared ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. It focuses on communication processes between people and assumes that that is what accounts for similarlyunusual ways
of thinking,feeling, and acting. It assumes that communicationoccurs primarilythrough
the transmissionof symbolic meanings embedded in language.
Contemporarysocial psychologists are skeptical of the antiquated idea of "emotional
contagion" as a mode of influence between people, except perhaps in very limited,
small-group circumstances,in which people might imitate each other. The idea that
"emotional contagion" is the main mode of influence between people in collective
behavior remains part of the psychiatric frame. In this frame subconscious emotional
contagion is judged as irrationalbecause it holds the dichotomy that cognition is "rational,"while emotion is "irrational."
EVENTSIN THEMAD GASSERCASE
During September 1944 residents of Mattoon, Illinois,1 made national headlines after a
series of imaginarygas attacks by someone dubbed the "phantomanesthetist."Mattoon
police investigated over two dozen separate gassing claims and scores of other reports
involving shadowy figures prowling after dark.The saga began about 11 p.m. on Friday,
September 1. According to newspaper reports,Aline Kearney had retired to her bedroom with her three-year-olddaughter,Dorothy. Her husband,Bert, was driving a taxi.
Her sister Marthawas awake in a front room while Aline's other daughter and Martha's
234
THE SOCIOLOGICAL QUARTERLYVol. 45/No. 2/2004
son slept in a back room. SuddenlyAline noticed a sickening,sweet odor that she attributed to a gardenia flower patch next to an open window,just inches from her bed. She
summoned Martha to see if she could smell it. She could not and left the room. As the
scent intensified she noticed that her throat and lips felt dry and burning,and there was
a paralyzingsensation in her legs. She screamed for Martha,who came and said she too
smelled the odor. After being told of the "paralysis,"Martha alerted a next-door neighbor, Mrs. Earl Robertson, who phoned the police about the "gassing."Mr. Robertson
searched the area without success.Later police also found no trace of an intruder.2After
hearing of the "attack,"Mr. Kearney reached home about 12:30 a.m. and claimed to
glimpse a figure near the bedroom window.Police again searched fruitlessly.He said the
man was tall and wore dark clothes and a skullcap.3
The Daily Journal-Gazette and Commercial Star4 (hereafter referred to as the
Gazette) was Mattoon's only large-circulationnewspaper and was read by 97 percent of
its families.5 It reported that unnamed authorities surmised that someone may have
sprayed the bedroom with poison gas. Mrs.Kearney said that the paralyzingsensation in
her legs abated after 30 minutes.Her daughter also felt temporarilyill. The others in the
house were unaffected.6
The InitialStage of AlarmistPressCoverage
This stage involves the mass media's sensationalizing of the initial claims that encourages a retrospective interpretation of events, shortly after the start of an episode.
Accordingly, people in Mattoon began redefining recent ambiguous events and circumstances as gasser related. On September 2 the Gazette published the first "gasser"
report, claiming, "Anesthetic Prowler on Loose." His existence was treated as fact.
The subheadline read: "Mrs.Kearney and Daughter First Victims ... Robber Fails to
get into Home."
After reading this sensational account in the Gazette, four other "attacks" were
reported on homes before or near the time of the Kearney incident. At about the same
time as the Kearney "attack,"Mrs.George Rider said she was alone with her two sleeping children, awaiting her husband's return from work. Having an upset stomach, she
began drinking excessive amounts of coffee. She later told a doctor that she had consumed "several pots" and then took stomach medication before vomiting.7 Until this
point there was no sign of the gasser. She next lay in bed near her children with the window shut. She then heard a peculiar noise-like a "plop"-followed by an odd smell
that gave her a light-headed sensation.8This accompanied finger and leg numbness.Just
then her baby began coughing. She assumed that the gasser had forced the fumes
through a bedroom window.9 Mr. and Mrs. Orban Raef claimed the gasser struck at
their residence the night before the Kearney "gassing."He and his wife were asleep at
3 a.m. when, he claimed, fumes came through the bedroom window. Both experienced
"the same feeling of paralysis" and felt unwell for 90 minutes. Friends sleeping in
another room were unaffected.10Mrs.Olive Brown told police that months earlier, she
too had been "gassed,"but did not report it fearing ridicule.She said that near midnight,
"she had an experience similar to that related by persons during the past few days.""11
Police did not lend credibility to the firstfew gassing claims.This was noted in a September 8 Gazetteeditorial criticizingpolice for believing neither Aline Kearney nor the
four reports that quickly followed by residents claiming"gassings"only after learning of
Social-PsychologicalTheoryof Collective AnxietyAttacks
235
Mrs. Kearney's claim. The Gazette states that police attributed these early reports to
"imagination."12Police had not become concerned until about September 5. But police
skepticism is not reflected in the early press reports.
Then, on Saturday,September 2, the Gazette published the first report on the incident in banner,six-column headlines:"Anesthetic Prowler on Loose." Not only was the
gasser treated as fact, the subheadline implied that more gassings may follow: "Mrs.
Kearney and Daughter FirstVictims ... Robber Fails to get into Home."Conspicuously,
in the four additional gassing claims,no one reported them to police, told friends or relatives, fled their home, or even consulted a physician.
In reexamining Mrs.Kearney's report in the Gazetteon September 2, neither she nor
her sister mentioned a prowler.Mrs.Kearney is quoted saying that her sister contacted a
neighbor, Mrs. Earl Robertson, who called police. The newspaper then indicated that
Mr. Robertson searched the yard and neighborhood "but could find no trace of the
prowler. Police also searched without success."Not until Mr. Kearney arrives is there
mention of a prowler at the bedroom window.In the article's lead and a following reference to Mrs. Kearney's parched and burned lips from "whatever was used by the
prowler,"the unnamed reporter surmises that there is a prowler spraying gas through
the window.
The "anesthetic prowler" was a Gazette creation by combining the first incident
involving Aline Kearney's strange odor and "paralysis"with Bert Kearney's claim of a
prowler in the second incident.No one reported seeing an "anestheticprowler."A headline writer simply created the phrase.The term "anesthetic prowler"was a media constructionof the Gazetteand quickly became a self-fulfillingprophecy as evidenced in the
next four prowler reports.The Gazette sensationalized the events further,by suggesting
that there would be more victims, in the subhead for the first headline: "Mrs.Kearney
and Daughter FirstVictims."
The Stageof EscalatingAlarmistPressReports
Between September 5 and 6, gasser reports spread beyond the Gazette to most Illinois
newspapers.These reports quoted authorities,such as the Mattoon police commissioner
and mayor and army experts,all of whom described the gasser as real. Additional gasser
claims continued to be reported. Most of these reports were either alarmist or asserted
the gasser's real existence. On September 5 Mrs. Beulah Cordes claimed to be "overcome" by fumes after finding and sniffing a cloth on her porch. It was analyzed at a
crime laboratory where a chemical expert could detect no trace of gas, saying it must
have evaporated.13Mattoon Mayor E. Richardson suggested that mustard gas could
account for the numbness,while army experts from the Chicago-based Chemical Warfare Service favored chloropicrin.14Richard Piper,superintendentof the Illinois Bureau
of Criminal Identification and Investigation, confidently proclaimed:"The existence of
the anesthetic, or whatever it is, is genuine."15
The major Chicago newspapers provided coverage on September 6. Most sent
reporters to Mattoon and afforded the story considerable space.These papers had a significant Mattoon readership, undoubtedly affecting public perceptions. The Chicago
Daily Tribunewas read by 24 percent of residents;the Chicago Daily News reached 20
percent.16Although the Chicago Herald-American covered only 5 percent of Mattoon,7 its audience during the gassings was likely higher.Johnson said that the Herald-
236
THESOCIOLOGICAL QUARTERLYVol. 45/No. 2/2004
American'salarmingheadlines and photographswere often cited to him in the course of
his investigation.18
By September 6 a nightly barrage of gassing reports was overwhelming Mattoon's
modest police force of two officers and eight patrolmen.19On September 8 about 70
people poured onto Dewitt Avenue after hearing that the gasser was spotted nearby.
When someone in the crowd detected a strange odor, others in the group were convinced that they had been "gassed."2tThe Chicago Herald-Americandescribed the incident with its typical sensationalism,beginning its account:"Groggy as Londoners under
protracted aerial blitzing, this town's bewildered citizens reeled today under repeated
attacks of a mad anesthetist who has sprayed deadly nerve gas into 13 homes and has
knocked out 27 known victims."'21
On September 9 and 10 hundreds of citizens gathered near city hall to hear the latest
news.As a patrol car responded to a call, it was followed by a procession of vehicles with
curious occupants.This prompted the Mattoon police commissioner to order his officers
to arrest"chasers."22
Vigilante gangs of men and boys roamed the streets on foot and in
vehicles, touting everything from clubs to rifles and shotguns.The commissioner feared
that a jittery resident with a gun would shoot innocent people.23One woman whose husband was away in the army loaded his gun for protection, only to blow a hole in the
kitchen wall.24These kinds of events would seem absurdly humorous if it were not for
their potential to harm innocent suspects. They are common collective expressions in
rumor-panics(see Victor 1993).
By September 9 several more "gassings"were reported, as the Gazette continued to
describe the episode in its typical sensational fashion and banner headlines: "'Mad
Gasser' Adds Six Victims! 5 Women and Boy Latest Overcome."The most vivid gassing
claim was also reported on the 9th as sisters Frances and Maxine Smith claimed a series
of attacks on their home. Frances was a prominent community figure and local grade
school principal.On Wednesday night the two said they were frightened by "noises outside their bedroom windows" and thought it may have been the gasser.The following
night they claimed three attacks.Like the previous "gassings,"the Gazettepresented this
incident not as a claim, but as absolute fact.
The firstinfiltrationof gas caughtthem in their beds.Gaspingand choking,they
awokeand soon felt partialparalysisgriptheirlegs and arms.Later,whileawake,
the other attackscame and they saw a thin, blue smoke-likevapor spreading
throughoutthe room.
odor camepouringinto the roomthey
Justbeforethe gas withits "flower-like"
hearda strange"buzzing"
soundoutsidethe houseandexpressedthe beliefthatthe
in operations.25
soundprobablywasmadeby the "madman's
sprayingapparatus"
Separate weekend incidents resulted in two women being hospitalized for "gassings,"
but they were later diagnosed as having "nervoustension."26
By Monday the 11th,ten Springfieldpolice officers were mobilized to Mattoon. Each
car had a local volunteer to assist with directions,and each officer carried a shotgun.27
Three police officers from Urbana were also dispatched. It was also disclosed that two
FBI agents had arrived to determine the type of gas the "madman"was using "to knock
That night a woman was so scared of a possible attack that she was
out his victims."'28
mental anguish."29
for
"extreme
hospitalized
Social-PsychologicalTheoryof Collective AnxietyAttacks
237
The Skeptical Stage
There was a sudden, pervasive shift in claims by the press and institutions of social control (i.e., police and politicians) on September 11 that described much of the recent
events as "mass hysteria."With a small army of police on patrol, CommissionerWright
joked that they were often able to answer a call "before the phone was back on the
hook."30At 11:30 a.m. Mrs. Eaton Paradise told police, "I've just been gassed." Racing
to the house, they found the culprit-a bottle of spilled nail-polish remover.31This and
many other obvious false alarms prompted Police Chief Cole to announce on the 12th
that it was all "mass hysteria" triggered by chemicals from local factories that drifted
across the city by shifting winds.32
On Wednesday the 13th the gasser was now being called the "phantom anesthetist"
and the "Mattoon Will-o'-the-Wisp.,"33 The press reported on two more false reports
overnight involving a cat on a porch and someone locked out of their car.34By September 14, under a barrage of ridicule by police and the press, gassing reports in Mattoon
had stopped.The Gazettebegan its account of a prowler claim the previous night by saying: "One call! No paralyzing gas! No madman! No prowler!"35On Thursday the
Gazette reported that police in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, stated that a frantic woman telephoned, claiming that a man holding a spray gun outside her window had gassed her
room. Police said, "they found no madman and no gas, but did find a billy goat tied in
the yard and an odor that seemed to come from the animal."36
Heretofore the gasser's strongest media advocate, the Chicago-HeraldAmerican,
suddenly turned scathingly critical of gasser claims by publishing a series of interviews
with a prominent Chicago psychiatrist about the "phantom prowler," "non-existent
madman,""wave of hysteria,"and "gassermyth,"equating it to the Salem witch hysteria
of 1692.37On the 19th an editorial in the Decatur Herald made fun of imaginative Mattoonites, noting that autumn was a season of odors: flowers, picnic fires, industrial
wastes, and rotting Victory garden produce. "Our neighbors in Mattoon sniffed their
town into newspaper headlines from coast to coast."38A reporter for Time joked that
gasser symptoms in Mattoonites consisted of temporaryparalysis,nausea, and "a desire
to describe their experiences in minutest detail."39Other letters to the Gazette during
late September ridiculed the episode. An army officer said Mattoon residents had more
advanced poison-gas training than his unit.40Another writer described the incidents as
The case of the Mattoon "gasser"was over.42
"hysteria."41
In the Mattoon event the Mattoon Daily-JournalGazettewas responsible for initiating the scare, a deluge of further published gassing claims propagated the episode, and
despite early reluctance, state and police, FBI officers, and local opinion leaders soon
embraced the hypothesis that a real gasser was prowlingthe community.Near the end of
the episode, this process began to work in reverse, as both the press and the police were
soon embracing the "mass hysteria"hypothesis.This view was given final legitimization
in a series of articles in the Chicago Herald-Americanby psychiatristHarold Hulbert,
who proclaimed the gasser mythical and this a case of "mass hysteria."
OF THE MAD GASSEREVENTS
PREVIOUSINTERPRETATIONS
A variety of theoretical interpretations have been offered to explain the "mad gasser"
episode. The mass hysteria position was first advocated by educator Donald Max
Vol. 45/No. 2/2004
THESOCIOLOGICAL
QUARTERLY
238
Johnson (1945), who viewed the collective behavior and somatic reactions as caused by
the contagious spread of hysterical symptoms in suggestible persons (predominantly
females prone to conversion hysteria) expressed to meet unconscious motivations.Psychoanalyst Francois Sirois (1974, 1982a, 1982b) also interprets the "mad gasser" events
as an expression of a collective mental disturbance.He contends that the "gasser"exemplified socially shared psychopathology involving unconscious fantasies of a perceived
threatening agent. These fantasies were caused by anxiety and repressed fear, and by
identificationwith the initial "victim."PsychiatristSimon Wessely (1987) interpretedthe
Mattoon events as an outbreak of "massmotor hysteria,"characterizedby the spread of
conversion symptoms,involving alterations in motor function, and triggered by identification with the initial "victim."Abnormal personalities engaged in identification with
prior "victims"and were most affected. Long-standing,preexisting anxiety was aggravated by press coverage of dangerous prowlers and break-ins.
A Social-PsychologicalInterpretationof the MadGasserEvents
The Cause of the Rumors
In brief, the Mattoon events were caused by belief in a threat rumor,which was given
credibility by several sources of authority,initially by the local newspaper and later by
the police, mayor, army experts, and big city newspapers.Authority is a fundamental
source of validation for people's belief in what is ""real,"
particularlyin conditions of
absence of research evithe
in
It
also
be speculated,
ambiguity (Coleman 1994). may
the
that
a
consensual definition of the situation among
dence,
people of Mattoon developed, which also served to validate the mad gasser rumor.A second basic source of most
people's belief is the consensual validation of reality, again, particularlyin conditions
where truth is ambiguous (e.g., "Everybodysays it is so").
But what triggered the rumor story? Specific triggers for local rumors are local and
arbitrary.In the case of the Mattoon mad gasser rumor,the story had its origin in Aline
Kearney's claims about being gassed by a mysterious intruder,as reported in the local
newspaper. Threat rumors build upon preexisting local anxieties (by giving them a
focus) and then further intensify collective anxiety.The most common preexisting local
anxieties are a matter of speculation. They were probably those generated by events
during World War II (fearful secret weapons) and perhaps by the social isolation of
many women, whose husbands where away at war.These possible preexisting anxieties,
however, were not "the cause" of the collective reactions of the mass anxiety attack.
The Cause of the Somatic Reactions
The similar somatic reactions of people in Mattoon who claimed to be victims of the
mad gasser were a product of their distorted perceptions of normal environmentalstimuli. Their perceptions were shaped by belief in the rumor story of a dangerous gasser
lurking in the dark.Their distorted perceptions of immediate danger furtherheightened
personal anxiety.The forms that the somatic reactions took, smelling strange odors, dry
throats,coughing, numbness,and fainting,were responses to the gas attack that people
believed they had experienced. In conditions of ambiguity,expectations for sickness can
cause sickness symptoms (Hahn 1999). A feeling of anxiety in response to a belief in a
Social-PsychologicalTheoryof Collective AnxietyAttacks
239
rumor story is commonplace. It is not a manifestation of mental illness. Individual differences in suggestibility are a result of a person's level of previous anxiety,their disposition toward critical thinking, and their location in a communication network where
belief in a rumor holds consensus.
The Termination of Somatic Reactions
A redefinitionof the situation began to occur once public skepticism was engendered by
authorities, in the form of skeptical articles in a big city (Chicago) newspaper and a
national magazine (Time). Crucial to that redefinition was the report of the Chicago
psychiatrist,who defined the Mattoon events as "mass hysteria."This resulted in the
humiliating ridicule of the people of Mattoon who might claim the experience of being
gassed. Thereafter,anyone making such a claim could be regarded as manifesting a temporary mental illness. Belief in the idea of "mass hysteria"socially constructed a new,
consensual definition of the situation, even though that meaning was as equally illusory
as the "madgasser."
Noise in the Dark:A SymbolicInteractionistTheoryof Collective
AnxietyAttacks-With SomaticReactions
The following theory presents a way of understanding how sociocultural forces influence collective somatic responses of individuals that may appear "strange"to the outside expert.The basic principle derives from W. I. Thomas's famous insight that:"If men
define situations as real, they are real in their consequences" (Thomas 1932, p. 572). In
other words, people react to the symbolic meanings that are socially assigned to environmental stimuli,even if their shared meanings differ from objective, verifiablecharacteristics of those stimuli. Thus, the individual's reactions in collective behavior are not
irrational(meaningless) or simply reactions guided by "emotional contagion."
The Sociocultural Level
(1) Communication of a threat rumor is the key to understanding the similarity
between many individuals' seemingly strange behavioral, emotional, and somatic
responses in unusual social situations.
(a) There may be preexisting anxieties from other sources, but these should not be
regarded as being "the cause" of a collective anxiety attack. Preexisting anxieties
merely add fuel to the fire.The nature of an imaginary threat usually symbolically resembles preexisting sources of anxiety. (In the Mattoon case, that may
have been fears of an enemy gas attack.)
(b) An imaginarythreat may be socially constructedthrough the social influence of a
report in the mass media or through rumors.Usually both occur in combination.
(c) Why a threat rumor starts in a particular location (a community, factory, or
school) and not in another similar location is not known. All that is known are
the kinds of environmentalconditions that encourage the initiation and spread of
threat rumors.
Vol. 45/No. 2/2004
THESOCIOLOGICAL
QUARTERLY
240
Social-PsychologicalLevel
(2) The process of communicationfollows the same principlesas the transmissionof all
rumors (Rosnow and Fine 1976;Rosnow 1980, 1991:Kapferer 1990;Victor 1993).
(a) Threat rumors arise in conditions in which many people hold a perception of an
ambiguous,immediate danger without adequate verification.
(b) Threat rumors are transmittedperson-to-person through specific social communication networks and more broadly through the mass media.
(c) Threat rumorsfunction to reduce anxiety caused by the uncertaintyof an ambiguous situation.
(d) Paradoxically,threat rumors also intensify anxiety due to the fear of a perceived
danger. Once a threat belief spreads widely enough through a group's communication network to construct a shared definition of the situation, the group's view
of reality will function to distort the individual'sperception.These distorted perceptions function to intensify anxiety.(These are not hallucinationsbut the kinds
of distorted perceptions that almost all people experience at one time or another.
Therefore,they are not any kind of "mental"or cognitive malfunctions.)
Threat
rumors are maintained as true via the process of the consensual valida(e)
tion of reality that defines the situation. In situations where there is an ambiguous perceived threat, whether real or imagined,the individual looks to others for
cues to an appropriatedefinition of the situation. Coleman (1994, p. 220) puts it
this way:"When he has no basis for determining the validity of a perception, he
transferscontrol to another's perception."
The
more homogeneous the group,meaning the less diverse the sources of social
(f)
influence, the more likely a group will panic in response to a perceived threat
(Coleman 1994). (In the Mattoon case the sources of social influence were rather
homogeneous at first, until outside media and professional people engendered
skepticism about the phantom gasser.)
PersonalityLevel
(3) Individual differences in stress in response to threat rumors depend on a person's
preexisting anxiety level, suggestibility,personal belief system, and connection to social
networks that validate shared meanings (Rosnow 1991).
(a) Highly anxious people will find abundant evidence for the threat and be
unmoved by skepticism (Anthony 1973).
(b) A few people who are constantly skeptical and analytical will remain unmoved,
even in response to the conformity pressure of the group consensus.
Somatic Reactions
(4) Personal stress in response to belief in a threat rumor affects an individual'ssomatic
reactions by causing symptoms of sickness.
(a) Expectancy effects due to belief in a threat rumor can shape an individual's
somatic reactions, such that personal expectations of feeling sick can result in
symptoms of sickness (Hahn 1999).
Social-PsychologicalTheoryof Collective AnxietyAttacks
241
(b) These somatic reactions can include trembling, fainting, coughing, nausea, gastrointestinal distress, vomiting, skin rashes, convulsions, or even pain from
crampedmuscles.
(c) The particularsomatic reactions symbolically reflect the nature of the perceived
threat. (In the Mattoon case coughing and throat irritationwere consistent with
the perception of poison gas. In cases in which people believe that they have had
contact with dangerous chemicals,skin rashes would be common.)
(d) Similar somatic responses may also be amplified by unconscious imitation of a
model of the act (Pennebaker 1980).
Countering Threat Rumors
(5) Countering threat rumors requires changing the group consensus.The key to altering the individual's definition of the situation is changing the group consensus in the
individual'scommunicationnetwork.
(a) Some social influences that may change a group consensus are the public skepticism of authority figures that are accepted by people in the communication network, skeptical mass-media reports containing counterevidence, and the lack of
repetition (reinforcement) of stimuli that trigger fear.
(b) The group consensus may change with passing time as the members undergo a
redefinition of the situation, causing individualsto doubt the nature of their past
perceptions.
(c) However, if people have the support of their communication network, they can
easily persist in believing that their past perceptions of a perceived threat were
real and that outsiders are merely lying to them.
(d) Ironically,labeling a panic as being "mass hysteria"can have the effect of reducing a panic, because the label has the humiliating effect of stigmatizing people
expressing strange behavior as being "crazy"(abnormal).
Consider the Reality Hypothesis
(6) Behavioral scientists need to be mindful that rumors about toxic pollution are
sometimes true. A rumor is not necessarily false. Authorities, such as government officials,corporate executives, and school administrators,sometimes lie to protect their jobs
or to avoid lawsuits. They sometimes lie about accidents involving poison gas, toxic
chemicals, and radioactive substances and then label people's reactions to these toxins
"masshysteria"(Ermann and Lundman 1996).
LAMALADIEIMAGINAIRE:PSYCHOLOGICALMECHANISMS
IN COLLECTIVE
SOMATICREACTIONS
Rumors about strange odors are a trigger for collective somatic reactions, such as
coughing and throat irritation,and commonly occur in occupational settings (Colligan
and Murphy 1979;Boxer, Singal,and Hartle 1984;Boxer 1985), includingmachine shops
(Sinks, Kerndt, and Wallingford 1989), data-processing centers (Stahl and Lebedun
1974; Stahl 1982), telephone offices (Alexander and Fedoruk 1986), and electronic
242
THESOCIOLOGICAL QUARTERLYVol. 45/No. 2/2004
assembly plants (Colligan and Urtes 1978;Colligan et al. 1979). A similar pattern exists
in school settings (Small and Nicholi 1982;Philen, Kilbourn,and McKinley 1989;Selden
1989;Cole 1990;Baker and Selvey 1992;Krug 1992;Taylor and Werbicki 1993;Small et
al. 1994). Many twentieth-century community-wide episodes of collective somatic
responses are related to the threat of chemical weapons or chemical contamination
(McLeod 1975;Christophers1982;Gamino, Elkins, and Hackney 1989;David and Wessely 1995;Radovanovic 1995). For example, a 1995 terroristattack using Sarin nerve gas
on the Tokyo subway produced a wave of mass imaginary"sickness"from the resulting
anxiety (Wessely 1995).
A key psychological phenomenon in understandingcollective somatic reactions such
as these is that consensually affirmed beliefs create "expectancy effects." Expectancy
effects have been demonstrated in psychological experiments in which expectations for
the behavior of a person by another person or group has the effect of actually bringing
about the expected behavior (Rosenthal and Jacobson 1992). Expectation effects on the
individual level are much like placebo effects, in the sense that a person's belief (expectation) that they will respond in a certain way has the effect of bringing about that
response. There is abundant social-psychologicalresearch evidence demonstratinghow
expectancy effects from a group consensus can cause distortions in individual perception of stimuli in their environment and even in their own body (Turner1991).
People do not have to see and imitate a "model" for behavior. However, similar
responses can be amplified by unconscious imitation of a model of the act. In the Mattoon episode principle responses were coughing and throat irritation. Pennebaker
(1980) studied perceptual and social factors influencing imitative throat irritation and
coughing in a college lecture hall. He found that hearing others cough, an increased
number of coughs, and a closer proximity to the coughing increased the likelihood of
coughing. He also found that persons cough more when there are low external-stimulus
demands competing for attention. "Froma perceptual perspective,hearing another person cough prompts others to monitor quickly their own throat,thus increasingthe probability that someone would become aware of throat irritation and emit a cough"
(Pennebaker 1980, p. 87). Furthermore,this process appears relatively involuntaryand
unconscious.Of the 29 percent of students observed coughingduringlectures,when asked
by Pennebakerif they recalledhearingany coughingduringthe lecture,most did not.
AND MANAGEMENT
CONCLUSIONS: IMPLICATIONSFOR RESEARCH
This new theory integrates an understandingof episodes of collective behavior involving
unusual somatic reactions into the mainstreamof sociological knowledge and theory. It
can be applied in non-Westerncultures and to diverse collective behaviors,such as local
panics, widespread rumor-panics,and mob attacks. It carefully avoids reducing collective behavior to personality dynamics,as is illustratedby the following comparison with
the psychiatricexplanation (see Table 1).
Research into outbreaks of collective anxiety attacks needs to be done during or
immediately after an episode, so that the affected people's beliefs and perceptions can
be investigated before they change to fit a new definition of the situation. Of course,
doing so requires that social science researchers be on the spot or quickly ready to
travel,like scientists who chase tornadoes.Researchers need to use a social construction
Social-Psychological Theory of Collective Anxiety Attacks
TABLE1.
243
COMPARISONOF PSYCHIATRICAND SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL
BEHAVIOR
EXPLANATIONSFOR COLLECTIVE
INVOLVING SOMATICRESPONSES
Labels for the Phenomenon
Social-Psychological-Collective Anxiety Attack; Rumor-Panic
Psychiatric-Mass Hysteria;Mass Psychogenic Illness
Focus of Research
Social-Psychological-Communication (content, networks. processes)
Psychiatric-Individual Personality
Basic Assumption
Social-Psychological-Somatic "responses"are caused by stress in reaction to belief in a threat,
in a specific culture, situation of events, and time in history.
Psychiatric-Somatic "symptoms"of sickness are caused by a temporarypersonalitydisorder,
in the absence of a toxic substance. Personalitydisordersare universalphenomena.
Initial Cause of an Episode
Social-Psychological-A belief that a situation is a threat spreads through a communication
network. The affected group may be experiencing preexisting anxieties, but not always.
Psychiatric-There is some kind of intense stressor acting upon a group.
Mode of Transmission
Social-Psychological-Beliefs are transmittedvia mass media and threat rumors.
Psychiatric-Temporary personalitydisorder symptoms are transmittedvia emotional
contagion.
Evolution of Episodes
Social-Psychological-Episodes diminishwhen the affected group's definition of the
situation (belief) changes due to skepticism of authorities and mass-mediareports, and lack
of repetition of stimuli that evoke fear.
Psychiatric-Episodes usually last over a limited period because intense emotionality becomes
exhausted.
Most Susceptible People
Social-Psychological-Normal personalities who are already highly stressed or suggestible.
Psychiatric-Abnormal personalities who are prone to confuse fantasy with reality, especially
those with conversion disorder (formerly called hysteria) and other somatoform disorders.
of realityperspectivein their research,ratherthan searchingfor "objective"psychological
causes of the imaginaryillnesses.
Researchers need to focus on investigating communication content and processes,
includingculturalsymbols in the content of the claims about the threat and the claims in
the mass media and in local rumors and in the differential networks of communication
connected with and not connected with the affected group. (Examples of such research
can be found in Morin 1971 and Victor 1993.) Researchersneed to investigate the claims
of formal and informal authorities that are accepted by the affected group in their communication network, to verify whether or not some statements support the misperceptions. Researchers need to check for differences in different communication networks,
includingawareness and lack of awareness of claims about the phenomenon, beliefs and
skepticism about the phenomenon, and practical worries in specific groups that might
cause preexisting anxieties that are symbolically similar to certain somatic reactions.
Keep in mind that different kinds of people travel in different circles and encounter dif-
244
THESOCIOLOGICAL QUARTERLYVol. 45/No. 2/2004
ferent social influences: racial, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, occupational, and age
related.
The management of collective anxiety attacks should be carried out in the same way
as the management of threat rumors, or rumors that claim the dangerous adulteration of
commercial products (Koenig 1985; Kapferer 1990). The focus must be upon changing
the affected group's shared definition of the situation, rather than upon changing the
beliefs and misperceptions of affected individuals one by one. Changing a group's beliefs
about their experience cannot be done simply by providing accurate information. It is
useful to obtain counterclaims from authorities who are accepted by the affected group.
It is necessary to keep in mind that groups with conflicting vested interests are often suspicious that the other's claims are deceptions: workers in factories suspicious of managers,
students in schools suspicious of administrators, rural people suspicious of urban media.
The counterclaims must be factual, but also designed to promote critical thinking and
skepticism about claims concerning the misperceived source of threat. Simple denials of
danger are likely to be ignored and even backfire by drawing attention to threat rumors.
It is most effective to communicate the counterclaims through the specific communication network in which the affected people participate, rather than through the mass
media. People need a calming explanation for their feelings of anxiety and bodily distress, such as nausea, vomiting, or pain from muscular cramps. It is best not to deny the
reality of their distress by claiming that it is purely imaginary. The explanation that these
reactions are due to stress caused by misperceptions is likely to be calming, at least to
reasonably well-educated people.
Sometimes a counterclaim that is symbolically similar to a source of anxiety can be
useful in redefining the situation. In the case of strange behavior and somatic reactions,
the countermyth of claiming that people's misperceptions are caused by a temporary
mental illness can sometimes redefine an affected group's perceptions. But, the myth of
"mass hysteria" can be harmful to affected persons by imposing a humiliating stigma on
them as being irrational, crazy people, unlike the rest of us normal people.
NOTES
1. Pronounced"MAT-tune,"and often mispronouncedas "Mah-TUNE."
2. Reconstruction of the "attack"on Mrs. Kearney is taken from the following sources, which
include first-hand interviews by Mattoon police and Chicago psychiatrist Harold S. Hulbert.
"Anesthetic prowler on loose." Daily Journal-Gazette.September 2, 1944, p. 1: "Show how they
were gassed." Chicago Herald-American.September 10, 1944. p. 10:Alley, E. "Illness of first gas
'victim' blamed for wave of hysteria in Mattoon."Chicago Herald-American,September 17. 1944,
p. 3; "Chicago psychiatristanalyzes Mattoon gas hysteria."Chicago Herald-American,September
17, 1944,p. 3.
3. "Anestheticprowler on loose." op cit., p. 1.The skullcap implies that he was Jewish, possibly
reflectingruralmidwesternanti-Semitismof the time where Judaismwas often associated with the
"evils"of secularism and of big-city life. Ironically,during this same period millions of Jews were
gassed to death in Europe.
4. The Daily Journal-Gazetteis the paper's popular name and appears on the banner. Its official full title is The Daily Journal-Gazetteand Commercial-Star.
5. Johnson,D. M. 1945.op cit., p. 180.
6. " ... Seen by Kearney ..." op cit., p. 1.
7. "Mattoon'sphantom 'suggestive' fear."Chicago Herald-American,September 21, 1944,p. 2.
Social-Psychological Theory of Collective Anxiety Attacks
245
8. Ibid.
9. "Anestheticprowler covers city."Daily Journal-Gazette.September 8, 1944,p. 6.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. "Mattoon'smad anesthetist"[Editorial].Daily Journal-Gazette,September 8, 1944,p. 2.
13. "'Mad gasser' adds six victims!5 Women and boy latest overcome."Daily Journal-Gazette,
September 9, 1944,p. 1.
14. "Safety agent to aid police in 'gas' case."Daily Journal-Gazette,September 6. 1944,p. 6.
15. "Chemiststrace Mattoon mad man's 'gardeniagas.'" ChampaignNews-Gazetteer,September 9, 1944,p. 3.
16. Johnson,D. M. 1945.op cit., p. 181.
17. Ibid.
18. Johnson,D. M. 1945.op cit., p. 181.
19. Ballenger, C. "Mattoon's gas fiend attacks girl. 11. in home." Chicago Daily Tribune,September 9, 1944,p. 10.
20. "Mattoongets jitters from gas attacks."op cit.
21. "Mattoon gets jitters from gas attacks." Chicago Herald-American,September 10, 1944,
p. 1.
22. "'Chasers'to be arrested."Daily Journal-Gazette.September 11. 1944,p. 1.
23. "Toall citizens of Mattoon."Daily Journal-Gazette.,
September 11, 1944,p. 1.
24. "Sidelightsof 'mad gasser's'strange case."Daily Journal-Gazette,September 12, 1944,p. 4.
25. "'Mad gasser' adds six victims! ... " op cit.. p. 1.
26. "... Two women believed victims examined at hospital."Daily Journal-Gazette.September
11, 1944,p. 1.
27. "Many prowler reports ... " op cit., p. 1.
28. Ballenger, C. "FBI at Mattoon as gas prowler attacks 5 more."Chicago Daily Tribune,September 10, 1944,p. 15;"Manyprowler reports ... "op cit., p. 1.
29. "'Mad gasser' case limited to 4 suspects."Daily Journal-Gazette,September 12, 1944,p. 1.
30. Johnson,D. 1945.op cit., p. 177.
31. Erickson,G. "Madgassercalled myth."ChicagoHerald-American,September13, 1944,p. 1.
32. "'Gasser' case 'mistake."' Daily Journal-Gazette,September 12, 1944, p. 4; "Police chief
says sprayer tales hoax." Illinois StateJournal,September 13. 1944, p. 1;" ... Cole amplifies statement."Daily Journal-Gazette,September 13, 1944,p. 1.
33. "Mattoonwill-o'-the-wisp."Daily Journal-Gazette,September 14, 1944,p. 1.
34. ".... Police get two false alarms during night ...
" Daily Journal-Gazette, September 13,
1944,p. 1.
35. "No gas,not even madmanseen duringnight."DailyJournal-Gazette,
September15. 1944,p.6.
6.
36. "No gas, not even madmanseen during night."op cit., p.
37. "Debunk Mattoon gas scare."Chicago Herald-American,September 13. 1944, p. 4: Erickson, G. "Mad gasser called myth." Chicago Herald-American.September 13, 1944, p. 1;Alley, E.
"Illness of first gas 'victim' blamed for wave of hysteria in Mattoon." Chicago Herald-American,
September 17, 1944, p. 3; "Chicago psychiatristanalyzes Mattoon gas hysteria."Chicago HeraldAmerican, September 17, 1944, p. 3: "Study terror in Mattoon." Chicago Herald-American.September 18, 1944, p. 1; Alley, E. "Credulityseat of Mattoon's terror."Chicago Herald-American,
September 20, 1944, p. 4; "Mattoon's phantom 'suggestive' fear."Chicago Herald-American.September 21, 1944,p. 2.
38. "The'perfumedcity' speaks"[Editorial].Daily Journal-Gazette,September20, 1944,p. 2.
39. Anonymous. 1944."At night in Mattoon."Time.September 18, p. 23.
40. "Letter to the editor."Daily Journal-Gazette,September 26. 1944,p. 2.
1944.p. 2.
41. "Letter to the editor."Daily
Journal-Gazette,September 29,
42. "All quiet on Mattoon's 'gas front.'"Daily Journal-Gazette,September 14, 1944,p. 1.
246
THE SOCIOLOGICAL QUARTERLYVol. 45/No. 2/2004
REFERENCES
Alexander, R. W., and M. J. Fedoruk. 1986. "Epidemic Psychogenic Illness in a Telephone Operator's Building."Journalof OccupationalMedicine28:42-45.
Anthony, S. 1973."Anxietyand Rumor."Journalof Social Psychology 89:91-98.
Baker, P., and D. Selvey. 1992. "Malathio-inducedEpidemic Hysteria in an Elementary School."
Veterinaryand Human Toxicology34:156-160.
Bartholomew,Robert E.. 1990."Ethnocentricityand the Social Constructionof 'Mass Hysteria.'"
Culture,Medicineand Psychiatry14(4):455-494.
. 1991."The Quest for Transcendence:An Ethnographyof UFOs in America."TheAnthropology of Consciousness2(1-2):1-12.
. 1993. "Redefining Epidemic Hysteria: An Example from Sweden." Acta Psychiatrica
Scandinavica88:178-182.
. 1994a. "The Social Psychology of 'Epidemic' Koro."The InternationalJournal of Social
Psychiatry40:44-60.
. 1994b. "Tarantism,Dancing Mania and Demonopathy: The Anthro-political Aspects of
'Mass Psychogenic Illness.'"Psychological Medicine24:281-306.
. 1994c. "Disease, Disorder or Deception? Latah as Habit in a Malay Extended Family."
TheJournalof Nervous and MentalDisease 182(6):231-238.
. 1997a. "Epidemic Hysteria: A Dialogue with Francois Sirois." Medical Principles and
Practice6:38-44.
. 1997b. "The Medicalization of the Exotic: Latah as a Colonialism-bound 'Syndrome.'"
Deviant Behavior 18:47-75.
. 1998. "The Medicalization of Exotic Deviance: A Sociological Perspective on Epidemic
Koro."TransculturalPsychiatry35(1):5-38.
. 1999a. "The Conspicuous Absence of a Single Case of Latah-related Death or Serious
Injury."TransculturalPsychiatry36(3):369-376.
. 1999b. "Penis Panics: The Psychology of Penis-shrinking Mass Hysterias." The Skeptic
7(4):39-43.
. 2000. Exotic Deviance: Medicalizing CulturalIdioms-From Strangenessto Illness. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado.
Becerra, H., and E. Malnic. 2001. "Complaints of Dizziness Shut Down Subway."Los Angeles
Times,September 27.
Boxer, P A. 1985. "Occupational Mass Psychogenic Illness: History, Prevention, Management."
Journalof OccupationalMedicine27:867-872.
Boxer, P A., M. Singal, and R. W. Hartle. 1984. "An Epidemic of Psychogenic Illness in an Electronics Plant."Journalof OccupationalMedicine26:381-385.
Centers for Disease Control. 2001. "Update: Investigation of Bioterrorism-relatedAnthraxConnecticut, 2001." Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 50(48):1077-1079. http://
www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r020313.htm.
. 2002a. "Update:Rashes among Schoolchildren-27 States. October 4, 2001-June 3, 2002."
Morbidityand MortalityWeeklyReport 51(24):524-552. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/
mmwrhtml/mm5108al.htm.
-2002b.
.
"Rashes among Schoolchildren-14 States, October 4, 2001-February 27, 2002."
Morbidity and Mortality WeeklyReport 51(8):161-164. http://www.cdcgov/mmwr/preview/
mmwrhtml/mm5108a
1.htm.
. 2002c. "Update: Case of Cutaneous Anthrax in a Laboratory Worker."Press release
issued March 13. http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/bioter/anthraxcaselabworker.html.
Christophers, A. J. 1982. "Civil Emergency Butyl Mercaptan Poisoning in the Parnell Civil
Defence Emergency:Fact or Fiction."New Zealand MedicalJournal95:277-278.
Social-PsychologicalTheoryof Collective AnxietyAttacks
247
Clarke,W. C. 1973. "TemporaryMadness as Theatre:Wild-manBehaviour in New Guinea." Oceania 43(3):198-214.
Cole,T.B. 1990."Patternof Transmissionof EpidemicHysteriain a School."Epidemiology1:212-218.
Coleman,J. 1994.Foundationsof Social Theory.Cambridge,MA: HarvardUniversity Press.
Colligan, M. J., and L. R. Murphy. 1979. "Mass Psychogenic Illness in Organizations:An Overview."Journalof OccupationalPsychology 52:77-90.
Colligan,M. J., and M. A. Urtes. 1978.An Investigationof ApparentMass Psychogenic Illness in an
Electronics Plant. Unpublished National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Report.
Colligan, M. J., M. A. Urtes, C. Wisseman, R. E. Rosensteel, T. L. Anania. and R. W. Hornung.
1979. "An Investigation of Apparent Mass Psychogenic Illness in an Electronics Plant."
Journalof Behavioral Medicine2:297-309.
David, A. S., and S. C. Wessely. 1995. "The Legend of Camelford: Medical Consequences of a
WaterPollutionAccident."Journalof PsychosomaticResearch39:1-10.
Durbin, K., and T.Vogt. 2001. "Fumes ... " Columbian,September 29, 2001, 1.
Eastwell, H. D. 1976. "Associative Illness among Aboriginals."Australianand New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry10:89-94.
. 1979."A Pica Epidemic:A Price for Sedentarismamong AustralianEx-hunter-gatherers."
Psychiatry42:264-273.
Ermann, M. D., and R. J. Lundman. 1996. Corporateand GovernmentalDeviance. 5th ed. New
York:Oxford University Press.
Freedman, J. L. 1982. "Theories of Causation as They Relate to Mass Psychogenic Illness." Pp.
171-182 in Mass Psychogenic Illness:A Social PsychologicalApproach, edited by M. J. Colligan, J.W.Baker, and L. R. Murphy.Hillsdale.NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Gamino, L. A., G. R. Elkins, and K. U. Hackney. 1989. "Emergency Management of Mass Psychogenic Illness."Psychosomatics3(4):446-449.
Hahn, R. A. 1999. "Expectations of Sickness: Concept and Evidence of the Nocebo Phenomenon." Pp. 333-351 in How ExpectationsShape Experience.Washington,DC: American Psychological Association.
Johnson, D. M. 1945. "The 'Phantom Anesthetist' of Mattoon: A Field Study of Mass Hysteria."
Journalof Abnormal Psychology 40:175-186.
Kapferer,J. N. 1990.Rumors:Uses,Interpretationsand Images.New Brunswick,NJ:Transaction.
Koenig, F 1985. Rumor in the Marketplace:The Social Psychology of CommercialHearsay.Dover,
MA: AuburnHouse.
Krug,S. 1992."MassIllness at an Intermediate School:Toxic Fumes or Epidemic Hysteria?"Pediatric EmergencyCare 8:280-282.
Lellman, L. "Suspicious Incident Forces Subway's Closing." Rutland Daily Herald, October 10,
2001,A3.
Levy, D. A., and P.R. Nail. 1993."Contagion:A Theoretical and EmpiricalReview and Reconceptualization."Genetic,Social and GeneralPsychology Monographs119(3):235-283.
McLeod,W. R. 1975."MerphosPoisoning or Mass Panic?"Australianand New ZealandJournalof
Psychiatry9:225-229.
McPhail,C. 1989. "Blumer'sTheory of Collective Behavior:The Development of a Non-symbolic
InteractionExplanation."The Sociological Quarterly30(3):401-423.
. 1991. The Myth of the MaddeningCrowd.New York:Aldine.
Miller, D. L., K. J. Mietus, and R. A. Mathers. 1978. "A Critical Examination of the Social Contagion Image of Collective Behavior: The Case of the Enfield Monster." The Sociological
Quarterly 19:129-140.
Morin, E. 1971. Rumour in Orleans. New York: Random House.
Pennebaker, J. W. 1980. "Perceptual and Environmental Determinants of Coughing." Basic and
Applied Social Psychology 1:83-91.
248
THE SOCIOLOGICAL QUARTERLYVol. 45/No. 2/2004
Philen, R. M., E. M. Kilbourn, and T. W. McKinley. 1989. "Mass Sociogenic Illness by Proxy:
ParentallyReported in an Elementary School."Lancet ii:1372-1376.
Radovanovic Z. 1995."On the Origin of Mass Casualty Incidents in Kosovo, Yugoslavia,in 1990."
EuropeanJournalof Epidemiology 11:1-13.
Rockney, R. M., and T. Lemke. 1992. "Casualtiesfrom a Junior High School during the Persian
Gulf War:Toxic Poisoning or Mass Hysteria?"Journal of Developmental and Behavioral
Pediatrics13:339-342.
~- . 1994."Response.Letter."Journalof Developmentaland BehavioralPediatrics15(1):64-65.
Rosenthal, Robert, and Lenore Jacobson. 1992. Pygmalion in the Classroom:TeacherExpectation
and Pupils' IntellectualDevelopment.New York:IrvingPublishers.
Rosnow, R. L. 1980."Psychologyof Rumor Reconsidered."Psychological Bulletin 87(3):587-591.
. 1991."Inside Rumor."American Psychologist,May:484-496.
Rosnow, R. L., and G. A. Fine. 1976. Rumor and Gossip: The Social Psychology of Hearsay.New
York:Elsevier Scientific.
Selden, B. S. 1989."Adolescent Epidemic Hysteria Presenting as a Mass Casualty,Toxic Exposure
Incident."Annals of EmergencyMedicine 18(8):892-895.
Showalter,Elaine 2002. "Scratchingthe Bin Laden Itch."New Statesman131:12.
Sinks,T., P. R. Kerndt, and K. M. Wallingford.1989."Two Episodes of Acute Illness in a Machine
Shop."AmericanJournalof Public Health 79:1024-1028.
Sirois,E 1974."EpidemicHysteria."Acta PsychiatricaScandinavicaSupplementum252:7-46.
. 1982a. "Epidemic Hysteria."Pp. 101-115 in Hysteria,edited by A. Roy. John Wiley:New
York.
. 1982b. "Perspectiveson Epidemic Hysteria."Pp. 217-236 in Mass Psychogenic Illness:A
Social Psychological Analysis, edited by M. Colligan. J. Pennebaker, and L. Murphy.Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Small, G. W., D. T. Feinberg,D. Steinberg, and M. T. Collins. 1994. "A Sudden Outbreak of Illness
Suggestive of Mass Hysteria in Schoolchildren."Archives of FamilyMedicine3:711-716.
Small, G., and A. M. Nicholi. 1982. "Mass Hysteria among Student Performers:Early Loss as a
PredisposingFactor."Archives of GeneralPsychiatry39:721-724.
Stahl, S. M. 1982."Illness as an Emergent Norm or Doing What Comes Naturally."Pp. 183-198 in
Mass Psychogenic Illness:A Social PsychologicalAnalysis, edited by M. Colligan, J. Pennebaker, and L. Murphy.Hillsdale,NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Stahl, S. M., and M. Lebedun. 1974. "Mystery Gas: An Analysis of Mass Hysteria."Journal of
Health and Social Behavior 15:44-50.
Stallings,R. A. 1994."Collective Behavior and the Study of Mass Hysteria."Pp. 207-208 in Disasters,CollectiveBehavior and Social Organization.edited by R. Dynes and K. Tierney.Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press.
Taylor, B. W., and J. E. Werbicki. 1993. "A Case of Mass Hysteria Involving 19 Schoolchildren."
PediatricEmergencyCare 9:216-217.
Thomas,WilliamIssac. 1932. The Child in America.New York:Alfred Knopf.
Turner,J. C. 1991.Social Influence.Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Victor,J.S. 1993.SatanicPanic:The Creationof a ContemporaryLegend.Chicago,IL:Open Court.
. 1998a. "Moral Panics and the Social Construction of Deviant Behavior: A Theory and
Application to the Case of Child Ritual Abuse."Sociological Perspectives41(3):541-565.
1998b. "Social Construction of Satanic Ritual Abuse and the Creation of False Memories."
Pp. 191-216 in Believed-inImaginings:The NarrativeConstructionof Reality,edited by J. de
Rivera and T. R. Sarbin.Washington,DC: American PsychologicalAssociation.
Villanueva, R. L., M. C. Payumo, and K. Lema. 2001. "Flu Scare Sweeps Schools."Business World
(Philippines),October 3, 12.
Wessely,S. 1987."MassHysteria:Two Syndromes?"Psychological Medicine 17:109-120.
-.1995."Hysteria after Gas Attacks."London Times,July 4, 14a.