Unconscious involuntary susceptibility of an individual to certain mental states. In this case, it is not the conscious transmission/reception of some information or pattern of behavior that occurs, but the transmission of a certain emotional state (mental state). Since all this takes place en masse, multiple mutual intensification of the emotional states of communicating people is observed.
Religious ecstasies;
Mass psychoses;
Panic (a consequence of a lack or excess of information about frightening or incomprehensible news). But if in a situation of panic there is a person who is able to offer a model of behavior that will restore the normal emotional state of the crowd, the panic can be stopped;
Emotional contagion in situations of mass spectacles. It has been established that for infection to occur, it is necessary to establish a commonality of assessments (a popular artist, a fascist leader, etc.), which is greatly facilitated by preliminary applause.
Infection is not only an asocial mechanism. A positive example can be infection by personal example in war, during rescue work in disaster zones, etc. How to run it? Unfortunately, this issue has been practically unexplored.
Purposeful, unreasoned influence of one person on another or on a group. Here, unlike infection, information is transmitted, but it is perceived uncritically.
Differences between the mechanism of suggestion and the mechanism of infection:
Contagion - empathy by the entire mass of people (including the leader) of the general mental state; during suggestion, the suggestor is not subjected to the same condition as the receiving individuals.
Suggestion is usually verbal; During infection, other means are also used (exclamations, rhythms, etc.)
The differences between the mechanism of suggestion and persuasion are as follows.
Suggestion directly causes a certain mental state, without the need for evidence and logic; here it is not agreement that is achieved, but simply the acceptance of information as a ready-made conclusion; u. occurs by a logical method, and the conclusion is made by the person being convinced. In other words, persuasion is an intellectual influence, and suggestion is an emotional-volitional influence. Hence the factors of the effectiveness of social suggestion:
In general, children are more suggestible than adults;
People who are tired, weakened physically and emotionally are more suggestible;
Thus, suggestion refers to manipulative methods of influencing the audience. Methods of resistance to suggestion and methods of removing this mental self-defense (counter-counter-suggestion) have been studied.
We find examples of suggestion in propaganda and advertising. Both formally appeal to logic and consciousness, but the method of suggestion is used very widely. In particular, a special concept has been developed here (a specific image of a perceived object, when the perspective of perception is deliberately shifted and only certain sides of the object are emphasized). The image thickens the colors of the image that the advertiser needs and, thereby, serves as a mechanism of suggestion. In addition, a well-constructed image addresses the emotional side of perception, which facilitates suggestion.
An individual’s reproduction of traits and patterns of demonstrated behavior. There are imitation-fashion and imitation-custom, imitation within one social class and imitation of one class to another. The following laws of mass imitation are formulated:
Internal models evoke imitation earlier than external ones. For example, the spirit of religion begins to be imitated earlier than rituals;
The lowest on the social ladder imitate the highest (the province - the center, the nobility - the royal court, etc.).
All the mentioned mechanisms of influence on members of a spontaneous group, of course, are not one-sided. There is always a reverse movement - from the individual to the influence exerted on him, and its intensity depends on the degree of criticality of the individuals who make up the spontaneous group.
Communication includes certain ways in which individuals influence each other; the main ones are infection, suggestion, imitation.
Contagion is an unconscious, involuntary exposure of an individual to certain mental states. Infection acts as a form of spontaneously manifesting internal mechanism of human behavior. The mechanism of socio-psychological infection comes down to the effect of multiple mutual reinforcement of the emotional effects of people communicating with each other.
A special situation in which exposure through contamination increases is the situation panic. Panic arises among a lot of people as a certain emotional state. The immediate cause of panic is the appearance of any news that can cause a kind of shock.
Suggestion is the purposeful, unreasoned influence of one person on another or on a group. With suggestion, an influence is exerted on another, based on the uncritical perception of a message or information.
Unlike infection, which is usually non-verbal in nature (dancing, games, music, emotions, etc.), the suggestion is against, verbal character, those. carried out through voice communication. Suggestion acts with particular force on impressionable people who, at the same time, do not have a sufficiently developed ability for independent logical thinking, do not have firm life principles and beliefs, and are unsure of themselves.
Imitation as a way of influencing manifests itself in following an example, pattern through its reproduction. Imitation is of particular importance in the process of human mental development.
Psychological self-education
Questions for discussion and reflection
1. Philosopher E.V. Ilyenkov asserts that “personality arises when an individual begins independently, as a subject, to carry out external activities according to the norms and standards given to him from the outside - by the culture in whose bosom he awakens to human life, to human activity."
2. The outstanding teacher V.A. Sukhomlinsky writes: “The root of all difficulties and failures in lessons in the overwhelming majority of cases lies in the teacher’s forgetting that a lesson is a joint work of children and a teacher, that the success of this work is determined primarily by those relationships, that develop between teachers and students.”
Is it possible to believe that the structure of relationships between schoolchildren in the classroom includes connections and relationships between schoolchildren and teachers?
3. If “personality begins, is realized and realizes itself in real actions,” then what are the possibilities of school in the formation of personality?
4. According to UNESCO, in developed countries, about 80% of all information received by children 12-15 years old is obtained not at school, but in the process of extracurricular communication. What pedagogical conclusions can be drawn based on this fact?
5. Why is the first impression of schoolchildren about the teacher such an important factor in their interaction in educational work?
6. Psychologist T.V. Dragunova characterizes adolescence as follows: “A teenager very clearly manifests, on the one hand, the desire to communicate and collaborate with peers, the desire to live a collective life, to have close comrades, a friend... The experience of loneliness is difficult and unbearable for a teenager... The merits of a peer he likes often make a teenager see and realize the lack of those qualities that appeal to him and are valued by his comrades. There will be a desire to be the same and even better. The comrade becomes a role model for the teenager.”
What, in your opinion, is unique about the relationship between activity, community and consciousness of a teenager? Can the given characteristics be used in relation to the initial period of student life?
Literature to read
Andreeva G.M. Social psychology. M., 1994.
Bozhovich L.I. Personality and its formation in childhood. M., 1968.
Bodalev A.A. Personality and communication . M., 1983.
Bodalev A.A. On the relationship between communication and relationships // Issues. psychology. 1994. No. 1.
Buber M. Me and You. M., 1993.
Vinogradova M.D., Pervin I.B. Collective cognitive activity and education of schoolchildren. M., 1977.
Gippenreiter Yu.B. Introduction to general psychology. M., 1988.
Gordeeva N.D., Zinchenko V.P. Functional structure of action. M., 1982.
Davydov V.V. The concept of activity and psyche in the works of A.N. Leontiev // Problems of developmental education. M., 1986. P.217-224.
Dobrovich A. B. To the teacher about the psychology and psychohygiene of communication. M., 1987.
Kan-Kalik V.A. To the teacher about pedagogical communication. M., 1987.
Levitan K.M. Fundamentals of pedagogical deontology. M., 1994.
Leontyev A.A. Pedagogical communication. M., 1979.
Leontyev A.N. Activity. Consciousness. Personality. M., 1979.
Mudrik A.V. Communication as a factor in the education of schoolchildren. M., 1984.
Communication and optimization of collaboration / Ed. G.M.Andreeva, J.Yanousheka. M., 1987.
Petrovsky A.V. Personality. Activity. Team. M., 1982.
Parygin B.D. Fundamentals of socio-psychological theory. M., 1971.
Rubinshtein S.L. Fundamentals of general psychology: In 2 vols. M., 1989. T.2.
Slobodchikov V.I. Psychological problems of the formation of a person’s inner world // Issues. psychology. 1991. No. 2.
Feigenberg E.I., Asmolov A.G. Cultural-historical concept and possibilities of using non-verbal communication in the restorative education of the individual // Issues. psychology. 1994. No. 6.
Tsukerman G.A. Types of communication in teaching. Tomsk, 1994.
Elkonin D.B. Psychology of the game. M., 1978.
Communication includes certain ways in which individuals influence each other; the main ones are infection, suggestion, imitation
Infection is an unconscious, involuntary exposure of an individual to certain mental states. Infection acts as a form of spontaneously manifesting internal mechanism of human behavior. The mechanism of socio-psychological infection comes down to the effect of multiple mutual reinforcement of the emotional effects of people communicating with each other. A special situation in which the impact through infection is enhanced is a situation of panic. Panic arises among a lot of people as a certain emotional state. The immediate cause of panic is the appearance of any news that can cause a kind of shock.
Suggestion is the purposeful, unreasoned influence of one person on another or on a group. With suggestion, an influence is exerted on another, based on the uncritical perception of a message or information.
Unlike infection, which is usually non-verbal in nature (dancing, games, music, emotions, etc.), suggestion, on the contrary, is verbal in nature, that is, carried out through a speech message. Suggestion acts with particular force on impressionable people who, at the same time, do not have a sufficiently developed ability for independent logical thinking, do not have firm life principles and beliefs, and are unsure of themselves.
Imitation as a method of influence is manifested in following an example or model through its reproduction. Imitation is of particular importance in the process of human mental development.
Social perception
Communication carries the function of interpersonal cognition; its essence depends on the completeness and adequacy of the teacher’s knowledge of the student’s personality.
Social perception is the establishment of mutual understanding and effective interaction based on psychologically competent perception (the ability of people to listen to each other).
Mechanisms of interpersonal perception:
Identification- the process of unconscious identification of “I” with “another”, the perception of another person as an extension of oneself.
Empathy- the ability of a person, with the help of feelings, to penetrate into the world of another person’s emotional experiences, to share his experiences.
Reflection- internal human activity, focused on self-knowledge, understanding of one’s actions and states.
Projection- an unconscious tendency to attribute to others one’s own motives, experiences, and qualities.
Decentration- a person’s ability to move away from his own egocentric position, the ability to perceive another person’s point of view.
Stereotyping- this is the use of specific standards with the help of which a person evaluates other people. There are types of stereotyping: anthropological - a special physical appearance, certain features; social – personal qualities; emotionally expressive – external attractiveness.
Reflexive - perceptual skills a person form an organic complex: to know one’s own individual psychological characteristics, to evaluate one’s mental state; to carry out a comprehensive perception and adequate knowledge of the personality of another person.
The phenomenon of causal attribution is important for a deeper understanding of how people perceive and evaluate each other - this is the subject’s explanation of interpersonal perception of the reasons and methods of behavior of other people. An explanation of the reasons for human behavior can be through internal reasons (internal dispositions of a person, stable traits, motives, inclinations of a person), or through external reasons (the influence of external situations).
The processes of casual attribution are subject to the following patterns. People's perceptions are influenced by: 1) Stereotypes - habitual simplified ideas about other groups of people about whom we have scant information. We acquire stereotypes from the group to which we belong (from parents, teachers in childhood, from the media). Stereotypes are erased when people from different groups begin to interact closely. 2) Prejudice - an emotional assessment of some people as good or bad, without even knowing them or the motives of their actions. 3) Attitudes - a person’s unconscious readiness to perceive and evaluate certain people in a certain habitual way and to react in a certain, pre-formed way without a full analysis of a specific situation.
In interpersonal communication, feedback is important - it is a message addressed to another person about how the interacting subject perceives him, what he feels in connection with the relationship.
There are two interrelated types of social perception (L.I. Mitina):
Proper-perceptual (perceiving and listening to a child or another person);
Empathetic (sympathy for the child, empathy, etc.)
Empathic listening provides a better understanding of the interlocutor, helps to neutralize people's tendencies to evaluate, and avoid categorical oppositions (“I - HE (they)”). Often this type of listening allows for a deeper understanding of the interlocutor's behavior.
The function of social perception in communication is that the interlocutor pays attention to the opponent’s behavior, his words, gestures, intonations, changes in appearance and behavior.
Factors of social-perceptual distortions in the communication process:
1) halo effect - the influence of the general impression of another person on the perception and assessment of private properties and manifestations of his personality;
2) the effect of inertia - the tendency to preserve the once created idea of a person;
3) sequence effect - influence on the perception of the sequence of receipt of information about a person;
4) the influence of the implicit theory of personality - consideration of a specific person through the prism of implicit ideas about what a personality should be, in the opinion of the perceiver;
5) judgment about another person by analogy with oneself - in most cases, an unconscious transfer of characteristics of properties, experiences, etc. to others.
6) the effect of stereotyping - the imposition on the perception of an individual person of a stereotype, a generalized image of a certain class, group, category of people;
7) the desire for internal consistency - the tendency of perception to “displace” all aspects of the image of the perceived person that contradict the “concept” that has developed about him;
8) the influence of the personality characteristics of the perceiver - the impact on social perception of the level of cognitive complexity of the perceiver, the level of his aspirations, self-esteem, sociability, etc.
Since the mental state is not static, and can change over time, over the course of a day or even a couple of minutes, we are primarily interested in how and following what method we can achieve a change in the state of the viewer during the performance.
Speaking about the dynamics of changes in mental states, we must first of all understand that depending on the state of the individual at the moment, the level of susceptibility to influence will be different. Physical fatigue, relaxation, time pressure, and even hunger can affect an individual's susceptibility. But in view of the focus of the work on interaction with the audience, we will take the average version of the viewer.
Usually, a spectator who comes to a performance or concert is in a joyful, cheerful state. He is cheerful, a little excited about the upcoming action and most often does not have behind him those negative factors that affect susceptibility to suggestion. The only thing that distinguishes the viewer is that he himself wants to be influenced by the actors acting on stage. The environment also has an impact. The atmosphere of the theater, a large number of people waiting for the action to begin on stage, a large amount of light and the auditorium itself already influence the individual even before the action begins. All this creates a favorable environment for perceiving what is happening on stage and being exposed to the emotional state of others and actors.
One type of impact is contamination. Infection belongs to a special method of psychological influence on a person in the process of communication and interaction, which is carried out not through consciousness and intellect, but through the emotional sphere of a person. It is one of the oldest methods of integrating group activities and is characterized by spontaneity, since it occurs primarily in situations of significant crowds of people - in stadiums, concert halls, carnivals, rallies, etc. In social psychology, contagion is the process of transferring an emotional state from one individual to another at the level of mental contact. Infection occurs through the transmission of a mental mood endowed with a large emotional charge. Researchers such as G.P. Andreeva, G. Lebon, argue that infection is both a product of the influence on others of the great energy of the mental state of an individual or group, and a person’s ability to perceive, empathize with this state, and participate. The effectiveness of the power of mental infection lies in a direct dependence on the depth and brightness of emotional excitement coming from the communicator. At the same time, the psychological readiness of the recipient before reacting emotionally to the corresponding influence is also significant. A strong catalyst for emotional arousal is explosive forms of expression of emotions generated by the positive or negative emotional state of people, in particular contagious laughter, crying, etc.
Infection is transmitted from one individual to another through the transmission of an emotional state, and not through the conscious acceptance of any information and patterns of behavior. Therefore, infection is an unconscious, involuntary exposure of an individual to the mental states of others. Infection tends to occur in large numbers of people. Being in the midst of a crowd, an individual does not experience deliberate pressure, but unconsciously assimilates images of other people's behavior and begins to behave accordingly. Also, among the masses of people there is a mechanism for multiple amplification of emotions.
When we talk about theater and audiences, we consider them as "the assembled audience." A crowded public is a collection of people who have similar expectations of certain experiences or are interested in the same subject. General interest and polarization of attitudes around one object or event are the basis for its isolation. .
"Under certain conditions - and, moreover, only under these conditions - an assembly of people presents completely new features that characterize the individual individuals who make up the assembly. The conscious personality disappears. The crowd becomes what, for lack of a better expression, I would say, organized a crowd, or a spiritualized crowd, constituting a single being and subject to the law of the spiritual unity of the crowd."
Most researchers have come to the conclusion that when people interact within a crowd, their emotional state is the same or has the same direction of action, be it panic, global inspiration, etc.
In general, “a gathered public is an accumulation of a certain number of people who have a similar expectation of certain experiences or are interested in the same subject. This common interest and polarization of attitudes around the same subject or event is the basis for its isolation. The next feature is readiness to react in some similar way. This similarity of attitudes, orientation and readiness for action is the basis for unifying the public."
The mechanism of psychological unification, in general, is quite obvious. After an external, physical connection in one room (the public rarely acts on the street), under the influence of exposure to all the same stimuli, certain similar or common reactions, experiences or stable orientations are formed among the public. Such an audience usually quickly becomes aware of the moods that arise in it, which enhances the impressions caused by the action of a general stimulus.
Speaking about the dynamics of the transfer of a mental state from one individual to another, it should be noted that the greater the number of people on whom this influence is directed, the faster emotions spread within the group. This is due to the fact that with a large crowd of people, the response resonance to an actor’s line or action on stage has a greater amplification in proportion to the number of people to whom it was directed. (Wilson?) Without exception, all the actors interviewed confirmed the fact that with an empty theater it is much more difficult to evoke the desired reaction from the audience, compared to if the hall is sold out.
It should also be noted that the use of recognizable images causes a more violent and rapid reaction from the crowd compared to new material. This technique is very often used in comedy programs and shows, where there is a first "key joke" consisting of a fact and an unexpected comparison, then after a while there is a "final joke" consisting of another fact, but with the same unexpected comparison as in first. If the quality of both jokes is acceptable, the reaction to the “final joke” is more intense, since the audience creates a recognizable image.
In works of the tragic type, what is happening on stage is perceived by the viewer differently than in entertainment genres. A phenomenon called “catharsis” occurs - a release from our fears and shocks, a release of tension that follows a powerful explosion of suppressed emotions caused by a theatrical production.
Very often operas produce this effect due to the tragic content of most of them. But when talking about performances of the musical genre, it is important to remember that, unlike dramatic works, where the characters’ lines can be modified, synonyms and stage directions can be used, this is unacceptable in most musical works. This seemingly minus, upon closer examination, turns out to be one of the main advantages and most effective methods of influencing the audience. The musical accompaniment of performances plays a crucial role in the perception of stage action; it can emphasize important moments of the play, increase tension, or, conversely, instill calm in the audience. When staging dramatic performances, directors are often faced with the difficulty of choosing appropriate music, but musical theater is freed from this problem by composers, most of whom deliberately included elements in their music that influence the audience and cause a certain state in it. In contrast to the musical content of the performance, the pauses used by the actors also have a special quality. Peter Brook in his book “Empty Space” describes the following incident: During a meeting with students, an amateur actor was called onto the stage from the audience and asked to read a monologue from “Henry V,” in which the names of the murdered French and English were named and it was said how many both of them died. The mere sight of a volume of Shakespeare was enough to awaken many conditioned reflexes associated with reading poetry. His voice sounded unnatural, because he tried with all his might to make his speech noble and significant, he carefully presented every word, put meaningless ones; accents, the language hardly obeyed him, he behaved tensely and uncertainly, and they listened to him inattentively and restlessly. Then Peter Brook asked the actor to pause after each name. After the first name, the relative silence became tense, and he felt that there was something between him. and an emotional connection was established with the listeners, he stopped thinking about himself, all his attention concentrated on what he was talking about. Now the concentration of the listeners actively helped him: his intonations became simpler, he found the right rhythm, this in turn increased the interest of the listeners, and finally a two-way flow of thoughts and feelings arose."
Based on the above, we can assume that pauses have the ability to attract the viewer’s attention and give time to realize what is happening on stage. But we can also say that you should not abuse pauses so that the actor’s speech does not turn into a torn text of individual words.
When interacting with the public not for the purpose of entertainment, but for example, during political agitation, speakers, in this case political speakers, also use certain techniques to obtain a certain psychological state, and therefore the desired reaction. In his book, G. Wilson cites two basic principles, derived by Atkinson, on which such tricks are built:
First, you need to give the audience preparatory signals indicating that the speaker will soon expect to hear applause,
Secondly, the exact moment when the audience should burst into applause should be indicated as clearly and unambiguously as possible. For these purposes, the methods of “three-part list” and “two-part contrast” are used.
The “three-part list” consists of three interconnected ideas, the first two are pronounced with an ascending intonation, the third with a descending intonation. This sequence serves as an allusion to applause.
A “two-part contrast” consists of contrasting two statements that are similar in form but opposite in content, one of which may carry an uncertain or even negative meaning, while the second serves as a positive explanation. Thanks to this construction of the phrase, the audience feels exactly when it should “enter the game.” The use of contrasts in political speech is very similar to the use of punchlines by comic actors to elicit programmed laughter from the audience. If the structure and timing of the lines are accurate, the initially sympathetic audience will laugh even if they do not hear the expected joke.
Such techniques are not new and have been used in art for quite a long time, for example, many Italian composers added a loud staccato passage at the end of arias; such orchestral imitation also serves as a signal for applause. All these techniques can be classified as predictable public reactions
But the most important factor influencing the viewer’s mental state is, of course, the performer himself. The artist's fame plays a major role in the audience's reaction to what is happening.
A.K. Bobrov, who worked in the musical theater of Kuzbass, was extremely popular with the public, and caused a reaction from the audience even before appearing on stage by giving a line from behind the scenes, thereby warning the audience about his entrance and seeking a reaction from the audience. Naturally, the inclusion of such a “game” with the viewer can yield certain results, but this method can only be suitable for experienced and famous actors
Correlating the above, we can confidently say that using the comprehensive application of the methods described above and the artist’s own charm, it will be possible to achieve any desired result from the audience, leading them along.
Conclusions to the first chapter
A mental state is a complex and diverse, fairly stable, but changing mental phenomenon that can be changed and controlled by special techniques.
When an actor interacts with the audience, it is important to take into account many factors, such as the theme of the performance, the number of spectators in the hall, key points pre-arranged by the director, the complexity of the material for perception, musical accompaniment and, of course, the contact of the performer himself with the audience.
The main forms of influence of an individual on a group of people are infection and imitation.
Contagion can be defined as the unconscious involuntary exposure of an individual to certain mental states. It manifests itself not through more or less conscious acceptance of some information or patterns of behavior, but through the transmission of a certain emotional state, or “mental mood.” Examples: religious ecstasies; mass psychoses; panic; emotional contagion in a situation of mass spectacles.
Imitation. Its specificity, in contrast to infection and suggestion, is that it involves not simply accepting the external features of another person’s behavior, but reproducing the features and images of the demonstrated behavior. Since we are talking about the assimilation of proposed models of behavior, there are two plans for imitation: either a specific person, or norms of behavior developed by a group.
In the theater, infection manifests itself as the transfer of the performer’s emotional mood to the audience, and imitation as a process taking place within the audience mass, a chain reaction of applause, the public’s delight or its indignation.
For successful performance, it is important for an actor to know all these techniques and be able to use them in the process of work.
Introduction. 3
1. Infection. 4
2. Imitation. 11
Conclusion. 18
References.. 19
Introduction
If we proceed from the fact that social psychology, first of all, analyzes those patterns of human behavior and activity that are determined by the fact that people are included in real social groups, then the first empirical fact that this science encounters is the fact of communication and interaction between people. According to what laws do these processes develop, what determines their various forms, what is their structure; finally, what place do they occupy in the entire complex system of human relations?
One of the important mechanisms of communication and interaction between people is the processes of mental imitation and infection.
I consider the topic of the test to be relevant, since the problems and mechanisms of human interaction are inextricably linked both in the professional and social life of an individual.
The purpose of the test is to cover the topic of Mental infection and imitation.
Independent work tasks:
Reveal the essence of the concepts of mental infection and imitation;
Reveal the significance of infection and imitation for public and social life;
Give examples of manifestations of mental infection and imitation in a person’s public and personal life.
1. Infection
The Encyclopedia of Sociology gives the following definition of mental infection. Mental contagion is a collective name for a number of events and phenomena of an individual mental and socio-psychological order in the behavior of people, the prerequisites for which are the mechanisms of suggestion and imitation. The determining factor for mental infection is the clear dominance of the emotional component of its implementation and manifestation. Mental contamination is closely connected with such a phenomenon as “fashion”, as well as with precedents for such phenomena as collective phobias (fears) of various types. The first attempt at a strictly sociological explanation of the phenomena of mental infection was carried out by G. Le Bon in his project for reconstructing the behavior of human “crowds”.
According to Andreeva, infection has long been studied as a special method of influence that in a certain way integrates large masses of people, especially in connection with the emergence of such phenomena as religious ecstasies, mass psychoses, etc. The phenomenon of infection was known, apparently, at the earliest stages of human history and had diverse manifestations: massive outbreaks of various mental states that arise during ritual dances, sports excitement, situations of panic, etc.
Contagion can be defined as the unconscious involuntary exposure of an individual to certain mental states. It manifests itself not through more or less conscious acceptance of some information or patterns of behavior, but through the transmission of a certain emotional state, or “mental mood.” Since this emotional state occurs in the mass, a mechanism of multiple mutual reinforcement of the emotional effects of communicating people operates. The individual here does not experience organized deliberate pressure, but simply unconsciously assimilates patterns of someone’s behavior, only by obeying him. Many researchers have noted the presence of a special “contagion reaction” that occurs especially in large open audiences, when the emotional state is intensified through repeated reflection according to the usual chain reaction models. The effect takes place primarily in a disorganized community, most often in a crowd, which acts as a kind of accelerator that “accelerates” a certain emotional state.
I found the following psychological interpretation of mental infection. Contagion is the unconscious involuntary exposure of an individual to certain mental states. In this case, it is not the conscious transmission/reception of some information or pattern of behavior that occurs, but the transmission of a certain emotional state (mental state). Since all this takes place en masse, there is a multiple mutual strengthening of the emotional states of communicating people.
Religious ecstasies;
Mass psychoses;
Panic (a consequence of a lack or excess of information about frightening or incomprehensible news). But if in a situation of panic there is a person who is able to offer a model of behavior that will restore the normal emotional state of the crowd, the panic can be stopped;
Emotional contagion in situations of mass spectacles. It has been established that for infection to occur, it is necessary to establish a commonality of assessments (a popular artist, a fascist leader, etc.), which is greatly facilitated by preliminary applause.
Contagion plays an important role in various socio-psychological phenomena. The role of infection in the emergence of “mental epidemics” among large groups of the population is especially great. These include cliques, dances of St. Vitus, the excesses of a fanatical crowd, a craze for fashion, various trends in art, literature, medicine, etc. The content of these dominant emotions determines the content of mental infection. It plays an important role in social life. Skillful use of mental contagion is an essential component of the work of a teacher, leader, and any educator in general.
Infection is not only an asocial mechanism. A positive example can be infection by personal example in war, when carrying out rescue work in disaster zones, etc. The example of a commander raising his unit to attack, the call of a party leader directing the actions of large masses of people, a teacher captivating his students is contagious. .
A special situation, according to Andreeva, where the impact through infection increases, is a situation of panic. Panic occurs among a lot of people as a certain emotional state, resulting either from a lack of information about some frightening or incomprehensible news, or from an excess of this information. The term itself comes from the name of the Greek god Pan, the patron saint of shepherds, pastures and flocks, who with his anger caused the frenzy of the herd, rushing into the fire or abyss for a minor reason. The immediate cause of panic is the appearance of some news that can cause a kind of shock. Subsequently, panic increases in strength when the considered mechanism of mutual multiple reflection comes into play. The contagion that occurs during panic cannot be underestimated, even in modern societies. A widely known example is the emergence of mass panic in the United States on October 30, 1938, after a broadcast organized by the NBC radio company based on the book by H. Wells “The War of the Worlds.” Masses of radio listeners of various age and educational backgrounds (according to official data, about 1,200,000 people) experienced a state close to mass psychosis, believing in the invasion of Martians on Earth. Although many of them knew for sure that a dramatization of a literary work was being broadcast on the radio (this was explained three times by the announcer), approximately 400 thousand people “personally” witnessed the “appearance of the Martians.” This phenomenon was specially analyzed by American psychologists.
Panic is one of those phenomena that is extremely difficult to study. It cannot be directly observed, firstly, because the timing of its occurrence is never known in advance, and secondly, because in a situation of panic it is very difficult to remain an observer: this is precisely its strength that any person, finding himself “ inside” the panic system, to one degree or another succumbs to it.
Research on panic remains at the level of descriptions made after its peak. These descriptions made it possible to identify the main cycles that are characteristic of the entire process as a whole. Knowing these cycles is very important to stop panicking. This is possible provided that there are forces capable of introducing an element of rationality into a situation of panic, and in a certain way seizing leadership in this situation. In addition to knowledge of cycles, it is also necessary to understand the psychological mechanism of panic, in particular such a feature of infection as the unconscious adoption of certain patterns of behavior. If in a situation of panic there is a person who can offer a model of behavior that helps restore the normal emotional state of the crowd, it is possible to stop the panic.
An important issue in the study of contagion is the question of the role played by the level of generality of assessments and attitudes characteristic of the mass of people susceptible to mental contagion. Although this issue has not been sufficiently studied in science, forms of using these characteristics in a situation of infection have been found in practice. Thus, in conditions of mass spectacles, a stimulus that includes the community of assessments preceding infection, for example, a popular actor, is applause. They can play the role of an impulse, after which the situation will develop according to the laws of infection. Knowledge of such a mechanism was used, in particular, in fascist propaganda, where a special concept was developed to increase the effectiveness of influencing an open audience by bringing it to open excitement: to a state of ecstasy. Other political leaders often resort to these techniques.
The extent to which different audiences are susceptible to infection depends, of course, both on the general level of development of the individuals composing the audience and, more specifically, on the level of development of their self-awareness. In this sense, it is true that in modern societies infection plays a much smaller role than in the initial stages of human history. Porshnev (1968) rightly noted that the higher the level of development of society, the more critical the attitude of individuals towards the forces that automatically drag them down the path of certain actions or experiences, the weaker, therefore, the effect of the infection mechanism.
The tradition that has developed in social psychology usually considers the phenomenon of infection in conditions of antisocial and disorganized behavior (various natural disasters, etc.), however, this type of behavior can also manifest itself in mass conscious, social actions. Interpreting them from the point of view of only infection processes reduces the significance of these actions, but taking into account the infection factor, for example, during various rallies and demonstrations is necessary. The task of social psychology is to provide a specific analysis of the mechanism of infection and its forms in situations of varying social significance. In particular, the question of the role of infection in organized, socially approved behavior, for example, infection by personal example in various mass production situations, during rescue operations in situations of various disasters, etc., remains practically unexplored. It is possible that in these cases some new aspects of the infection phenomenon will be revealed, for example, its compensatory function in conditions of insufficient organization, etc.
It is important to note that the growth of self-awareness does not cancel such forms of mental infection that manifest themselves in mass social movements, especially during periods of social instability, for example, in conditions of radical social transformations.
It makes sense to consider, so to speak, the consumer side of mental infection. The infection mechanism most often manifests itself in conditions of random, unplanned purchases and queues. Here advertising is distributed and acts instantly. However, the role of contagion in advertising has not been sufficiently studied; it is often identified with imitation.
G. Lebon, analyzing such a mental mechanism of social influence as contagion, wrote that mental contagion, or, as he called it, “mental contagion,” is most characteristic of the crowd and contributes to the formation of special properties in it. “Infection is a phenomenon,” writes G. Le Bon, “which is easy to indicate, but not to explain; it must be classified as a hypnotic phenomenon... In a crowd, every feeling, every action is contagious, the author writes, and to such an extent that the individual very easily sacrifices his personal interests to the collective interest. Such behavior, however, is contrary to human nature, and therefore a person is capable of it only when he is part of a crowd.”
In practice, the phenomenon of mental contagion as a method of advertising influence manifests itself during public events, especially among young people gathered in discos “for relaxation,” where specific music and lighting effects (strobe lights, etc.) are used as a special stimulating emotional background. Such exposure, together with greater physical activity, ensures an increase in the amount of fluid consumed, tonic drinks, beer, low-alcohol drinks, etc. In this case, the young man often makes a purchase because he feels thirst, which is also experienced by those around him. Discotheques sell souvenirs, clothes, records and other attributes of a “party member” belonging to a certain category of fans of a particular musical genre. And the “communication” itself in a circle of like-minded people represents a kind of jointly experienced emotional state, which is advertised as a “disco show” and for which the organizers receive a lot of money. Sometimes, to enhance the effect of “mental contamination” at discos, narcotic substances are distributed through criminal means, for example, the popular drug “ecstasy”, which not only activates the physical capabilities of a dancing person and increases the need for fluid, but also enhances the effect of mental contamination, making young people want to do that what everyone does, and thereby like each other.
2. Imitation
According to the psychological interpretation, imitation is an individual’s reproduction of traits and patterns of demonstrated behavior.
Imitation also refers to mechanisms and ways of people influencing each other, including in conditions of mass behavior, although its role in other groups, especially in special types of activities, is also quite large. Imitation has a number of common features with the phenomenon of infection, but its specificity lies in the fact that here it is not a simple acceptance of the external traits of another person’s behavior or mass mental states, but the individual’s reproduction of the traits and patterns of demonstrated behavior.
There are imitation-fashion and imitation-custom, imitation within one social class and imitation of one class to another. The following laws of mass imitation are formulated:
Internal models evoke imitation earlier than external ones. For example, the spirit of religion begins to be imitated earlier than rituals;
The lowest on the social ladder imitate the highest (the province - the center, the nobility - the royal court, etc.).
All the mentioned mechanisms of influence on members of a spontaneous group, of course, are not one-sided. There is always a reverse movement - from the individual to the influence exerted on him, and its intensity depends on the degree of criticality of the individuals who make up the spontaneous group.
In the history of social psychology, imitation has received a lot of attention. As already noted, the development of ideas about the role of imitation in society is characteristic of the concept of G. Tarde, who owns the so-called theory of imitation. In basic terms, this theory boils down to the following: the fundamental principle of the development and existence of society is imitation. It is through imitation that group norms and values emerge. Imitation acts as a special case of the more general “world law of repetition.” If in the animal world this law is realized through heredity, then in human society it is through imitation. It acts as a source of progress: periodically, inventions are made in society, which are imitated by the masses. These discoveries and inventions subsequently enter the structure of society and are again mastered through imitation. It is involuntary, and can be considered as a “kind of hypnotism”, when “the reproduction of one brain cliché is carried out by the sensitive plate of another brain” (Tard, 1892).
Social conflicts occurring in society are explained by contradictions between possible directions of imitation. Therefore, the nature of these conflicts is similar to the nature of conflicts in the individual consciousness, when a person simply experiences hesitation, choosing a new pattern of behavior. There are several types of imitation: logical and extra-logical, internal and external, imitation-fashion and imitation-custom, imitation within one social class and imitation of one class to another. Analysis of these different types of imitation made it possible to formulate the laws of imitation, among which, for example, are the following: imitation is carried out from internal to external (i.e., internal models cause imitation earlier than external ones: the spirit of religion is imitated earlier than rituals); the lower (meaning those lower on the social ladder) imitate the higher (the province - the center, the nobility - the royal court), etc.
It is easy to see that such a concept provides a classic example of the absolutization of the role of imitation in society, when all social problems are considered from the point of view of the action of some psychological mechanism. As E. Durkheim rightly noted, with this approach, a wide variety of social phenomena are mixed together. Meanwhile, a child’s imitation of an adult, for example, develops according to completely different laws than the relationship of classes in society.
However, if we ignore the absolutization of the idea of imitation, we can highlight very useful considerations in the analysis proposed by Tardom: today, rather, not only they, but a fairly solid practice of experimental research makes it possible to establish the actual characteristics of this specific means of psychological influence. Of course, imitation is of particular importance in the process of child development. It is in child psychology that the bulk of experimental research on imitation is carried out. However, as long as the phenomenon is included in the fabric of communication, these studies have a certain socio-psychological interest. Thus, research into the mechanism of imitation became the subject of a special theory of imitation, developed within the framework of a neo-behaviorist orientation by N. Miller, D. Dollard and A. Bandura. Based on the concept of “reinforcement”, A. Bandura describes three ways of following a reinforced behavior “model”, i.e. role model:
a) when new reactions can arise through observation of the model,
b) when observing the reward or punishment of a model can strengthen or weaken the inhibition of behavior,
c) when observing a model can contribute to the actualization of those patterns of behavior that were previously known to the observer.
Obviously, all three of these methods of imitation can also manifest themselves in situations of mass behavior. In this case, the mechanism of imitation acts in close connection with the mechanisms of infection and suggestion.
In each case, the implementation of influence using the indicated methods encounters one or another degree of criticality of the individuals who make up the mass. Impact generally cannot be considered as a unidirectional process: there is always a reverse movement - from the individual to the influence exerted on it. All this takes on special significance in spontaneous groups. Spontaneous groups and the mass behavior and mass consciousness demonstrated in them are an essential component of various social movements.
Considering various aspects of psychological imitation, I consider it appropriate to mention “consumer” imitation.
Many advertisers pay attention to the fact that in advertising the method of creating conditions for imitation works most effectively in cases where what is advertised is what is prestigious for a person, what is bought by him in order to be like a famous, popular, authoritative person.
In the works of L.I. Bozovic, it is shown that, for example, the development of children’s motivation occurs from imitation to conscious goal setting. Thus, in her opinion, there is reason to believe that the mechanism of “blind” imitation will have a stronger effect on young children and adolescents than on adults.
G. Craig believes that in children imitation plays an important role in language acquisition. A child learns his first words through hearing and imitation. According to G. Craig, this is how most of the child’s vocabulary is formed, since he cannot invent words himself and discover their meaning to himself. However, “how a child masters syntax,” the author writes, “is not so easy to explain. Although the child constructs some phrases by imitating others, such a grammatical form as “amn"t I” (“this is not me”) is certainly his own invention. It is also doubtful that the child could hear the phrase “Baba sleep” anywhere. Even when adults begin to imitate a child’s style of speech or try to correct the child’s mistakes, children still continue to use their own constructions that could not be learned through direct copying, if only because the speech of adults does not contain such role models.”
Many young mothers repeatedly note that their young children, who do not yet know how to speak properly, love to watch advertising and, at the same time, are completely indifferent to other television programs. Very often they express concern about whether television broadcasters are using any special technologies to influence young children that are harmful to their mental health. It should be noted that from a marketing point of view, such technologies would be meaningless, because children who cannot speak will in no way be able to influence their parents and, therefore, stimulate the number of sales of advertised products. The effect most likely occurs only at the perceptual level, that is, as a result of attracting the attention of children by advertising. The speed and change of frames in advertising, sound, variety, brightness and contrast of colors most often differ from regular broadcasts. Apparently this is what attracts young children. They react to advertising inserts in the same way as to the sounds of a rattle, with the help of which adults try to attract the attention of a child.
Without any doubt, imitation plays a significant role in the sphere of advertising influence on consumers and varies significantly in nature. In particular, imitation of advertising by adolescents and adults occurs on the basis of various psychological patterns. In adults, imitation of an advertising character is more often determined by the coincidence of what they see with what is determined by their value orientations, as well as motivation and needs, the desire to be like a successful authoritative person. However, if the behavior of adults when perceiving advertising was based only on imitation, this would lead to contradictions with the formed personal motivation and would certainly destroy the system of individual goal setting.
Examples of imitation can be observed at different age stages of a person’s individual development. Y. A. Komensky also wrote in his works “Great Didactics” and “Mother’s School” about imitation as a property of children “... to imitate everything that others do before their eyes.” Due to the fact that “they learn to imitate before learning,” the great teacher strongly advised parents to “constantly show good examples to their children,” and teachers to use “examples, both taken from life and from history,” in their teaching and educational activities " The imitation mechanism continues to be the leading one in shaping behavior for several years. In the first years of life, a child’s perception and thinking are purely concrete; it is much easier for him to copy a visual example than to follow instructions. Over time, thinking becomes more and more abstract, the child gains the ability to abstract from visual patterns and build his behavior on the basis of mental ideas and concepts. The role of imitation in mental development is reduced, but does not disappear. In fact, the mechanism of imitation never disappears. After all, adults, for example, dress in accordance with fashion to a greater or lesser extent, that is, they try to imitate certain standards. And it happens that they directly (albeit often unconsciously) copy the behavior of those people whose achievements are desirable for ourselves.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be noted that the following types of psychological influence in the process of communication are distinguished: infection, suggestion and imitation. Within the framework of this test, only infection and imitation are considered.
1. Contagion can be defined as the unconscious involuntary exposure of an individual to certain mental states. It manifests itself not through more or less conscious acceptance of some information or behavior patterns, but through the transmission of a certain emotional state, or “mental mood” (B.D. Parygin).
Religious ecstasies;
Mass psychoses;
Emotional contagion in situations of mass spectacles.
2. Imitation. Its specificity, in contrast to infection and suggestion, is that it involves not simply accepting the external features of another person’s behavior, but reproducing the features and images of the demonstrated behavior. Since we are talking about the assimilation of proposed models of behavior, there are two plans for imitation: either a specific person, or norms of behavior developed by a group.
There are imitation-fashion and imitation-custom, imitation within one social class and imitation of one class to another.
References
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