Tömegek

Tömegek is a term used to describe large, undifferentiated groups of people acting collectively, often in public spaces or through media, where individual identities may be diminished and collective emotions or goals emerge. It is studied in sociology, social psychology, and political science as a phenomenon of crowd behavior and mass mobilization.

The concept has roots in 19th- and early 20th-century crowd psychology. Gustave Le Bon argued that individuals in crowds lose personal will and become susceptible to suggestion and emotional contagion, leading to impulsive and sometimes irrational actions. Later researchers, including social psychologists, refined these ideas by emphasizing situational factors, group norms, and the role of leadership, while noting that crowds are not uniformly destructive and can coordinate coordinated action.

Central mechanisms include deindividuation, social contagion, emergent norms, and framing by leaders or media. The size of the crowd, anonymity, arousal, and shared stimuli contribute to rapid diffusion of ideas and mobilization. Distinctions are made between crowds gathered for a single purpose, audiences, and broader mass society characterized by persistent media networks.

In contemporary contexts, mass communication technologies shape tömegek by linking distant people and enabling rapid mobilization, protest, or support. Social media can create virtual crowds that coordinate action across borders but also spread misinformation and polarization. Understanding tömegek involves examining how emotions, information, and incentives interact within social networks to shape collective behavior.