disruptives

Disruptives is the plural form of disruptive when used as a noun to designate agents or factors that cause disruption. More commonly, disruptive is an adjective describing anything that interrupts or overturns established patterns. The term occurs in several fields with different emphases.

In biology and ecology, disruptive describes patterns that favor extreme traits over intermediates. Disruptive selection is a form of natural selection that increases variation by selecting against the mean phenotype. The noun disruptives may be used informally to refer to individuals or traits at extremes within a population, but this usage is not standard.

In technology and business, disruptive technologies or disruptive innovations describe inventions that create new markets and value networks, eventually displacing established firms or products. Examples often cited include digital photography, streaming media, and smartphones, which disrupted traditional industries such as film, music distribution, and landline telephony.

In education and psychology, disruptive behavior refers to conduct that interferes with learning or classroom order. In casual usage, disruptives may refer to students or groups characterized by such behavior, though professional terminology typically uses more specific descriptors.

See also disruptor, disruption, disruptive technology, and disruptive selection.