The mass psychology of
disasters and emergency
evacuations: Implications for
the emergency services
Presentation for the BPS annual conference,
Dublin 2/4/2008
Chris Cocking, John Drury & Steve Reicher:
London Metropolitan University, University of Sussex &
University of St. Andrews
Funded by ESRC (Ref no: RES-000-23-0446)
c.cocking@londonmet.ac.uk
Outline of Presentation
Background and aims of
research
 Data from interview studies
 Implications for emergency
planners
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Development of crowd
behaviour theories over time
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19th Century- The irrationalist approach
(Le Bon, 1895)
1960s - 70s more rationalist approaches
Emergent Norm Theory (Turner R.,
1974)
From 1980s to present- The Social
Identity Model (Reicher, 2001)
The ‘Panic’ model
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Part of the irrationalist tradition in crowd
psychology
a) Threat causes emotion to overwhelm reason
b) Collective identity breaks down
c) Selfish behaviours - pushing, trampling
d) Contagion - these behaviours spread to crowd
as a whole
This has implications for emergency
planning
Iroquois fire 1903
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‘most of the dead were trampled or
smothered, though many jumped or fell to
the floor of the foyer. In places on the
stairways, particularly where a turn caused a
jam, bodies were piled 7 or 8 feet deep.
Fireman and Police confronted a sickening
task in disentangling them.[ ] The heel prints
on the dead faces mutely testified to the cruel
fact that human animals stricken by terror are
as mad and ruthless as stampeding cattle’
(in Latané & Darley 1970 p. 53)
Under-reaction rather than
over-reaction
‘When people die in fires, it’s not because of
panic, it’s more likely to be the lack of panic’
p.73
Neil Townsend, Divisional Officer, London Fire
Rescue Service (in Kemp, 2003)
Supported by evidence of behaviour in fires that
people are often unwilling to deviate from
familiar activity, leading them to continue
with existing behaviours or evacuate along
known routes, even in the face of danger
(Canter, 1990)
Social attachment model
(Mawson, 2005)
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In emergencies, people seek out attachment figures:
social norms rarely break down
But, such ties can have fatal consequences- people
escape (or die) in groups
Improves on panic model, and supported by evidence
from behaviour during fatal fires (Cornwell, 2001) but
problems remain:
a) Implies that panic in a crowd of strangers is more
likely
b) Why do strangers co-operate in emergencies?
The self-categorisation
approach (Turner et al., 1987)
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Disasters create a common identity or sense
of ‘we-ness’- Clarke (2002)
This can result in orderly, altruistic behaviour
as people escape common threat
Increased threat can enhance common
identity
Interview studies
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21 survivors of 11 different emergencies
12 survivors of 7/7/2005
Open–ended interviews
Tape-recorded and transcribed
Analysed using Content Analysis and
IPA
Results from interviews
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Common identity quickly emerges
Co-operative rather than selfish
behaviour predominates
If selfish behaviour happens, it is
usually isolated and rarely spreads
Hillsborough survivor
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I don’t think people did lose control of their
emotions [ ] they were clearly in control of
their own emotions and their own physical
insecurity, I mean [] you’re being crushed,
you’re beginning to fear for your own
personal safety, and yet they were [ ]
controlling or tempering their emotions to
help try and remedy the situation and help
others who were clearly struggling
Research into 7/7/2005
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Data from Press reports and web-logs
Web based questionnaire study for eyewitnesses of bombings
Interviews with 12 survivors
Response to 7/7
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Individual fear and distress, but no
mass panic
Evacuations characterised by orderly,
calm behaviour
Many reports of altruism, co-operation,
and collective spirit of Londoners/ UK as
a whole
Panic?
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There was no real panic - just an
overwhelming sense to get out of the station
quickly
Almost straight away our packed carriage
started to fill with smoke, and people
panicked immediately. Thankfully there were
some level-headed people on the carriage
who managed to calm everyone down
Unity
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One of the things which struck me
about this experience is that one
minute you are standing around
strangers and the next minute they
become the closest and most important
people in your life. That feeling was
quite extraordinary
The myth of Panic
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Many accounts of ‘panic’ in emergencies
But what actually is panic, and what is
logical flight behaviour?
Need to look at what people actually
do, and decide if it is indeed ‘panic’
More than just semantics, as it could
affect emergency evacuation planning
Implications for emergency
services
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More info rather than less can improve
evacuation time and efficiency (Proulx &
Sime, 1991)
Source of info and whether it’s trusted
matters
Appeal to crowd’s co-operative nature - don’t
assume they will behave selfishly or panic
Practice evacuations- don’t assume it won’t
happen to you!
Crowds can be part of the solution
rather than part of the problem
People may delay own escape to help
others
Appeal to the crowd’s common
humanity- ‘We’re in this together’
Don’t address commuters as atomised
‘customers’
Influential leader figures may emerge
from crowd, who can help rescue effort
Summary
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Crowds in emergencies behave in ways
that are consistent with their identities
and governed by the social norms of
the situation
The ‘panic model’ is largely a myth
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/affiliates/panic/applications.
html
References:
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Blake et al. (2004). Proceedings of Third International Symposium on Human
Behaviour in Fire
Canter, D. (ed.) (1990) Fires and human behaviour (pp. 15-30). London: David Fulton
Cornwell, B. (2001). The Sociological Quarterly, 44, 617-638
Kemp R (2003) Homeland Security: best practices for local government.
http://www.icma.org
Le Bon, G. (1968)The crowd: A study of the popular mind. (Originally published 1895)
Mawson, A.R. (2005) Psychiatry, 68, (2) 95-113.
Proulx, G. & Sime, J.D. (1991). Fire Safety Science: Proceedings of the Third
International Symposium, 843-852
Reicher, S. (2001). The psychology of crowd dynamics. In M.A. Hogg and R.S. Tindale
(Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Group processes (pp. 182-208).
Oxford, UK: Blackwell
Turner J et al (1987) Rediscovering the social group
Turner, R.H. (1974). Collective behavior. In R.E.L. Faris (ed.), Handbook of Modern
Sociology. Chicago: Rand McNally.