Meebeweging

Meebeweging is a Dutch term used to describe the tendency of people within a group to align their movements with those of others, resulting in synchronized or coordinated action. The word combines mee- meaning “together” and beweging meaning “movement.”

In social psychology and crowd dynamics, meebeweging can occur in a variety of settings, including concerts, protests, sports events, dance gatherings, and everyday interactions where observers respond to the behavior of others. It helps explain how group motion can spread rapidly through a crowd without explicit instruction.

The mechanisms behind meebeweging include social imitation, conformity to group norms, and informational influence when individuals infer the appropriate action from others’ behavior. Neural and cognitive processes, such as mirror neuron activity and shared attention, contribute to the rapid propagation of movement within a group.

Meebeweging can manifest as simple actions like applause or foot tapping, or as more complex coordinated activities such as swaying, marching, or synchronized dance. It influences the experience, safety, and efficiency of crowd management at large events and is studied through observational studies, controlled experiments, and computational models of crowd dynamics.

See also: contagious behavior, social contagion, synchrony, crowd psychology, collective behavior.