herd behaviour
Following the crowd
Herd behaviour is the tendency of individuals to follow what others are doing rather than act independently.
The term comes from how animals move together in herds, flocks, or schools.
It applies to humans in crowds, markets, and social trends: Herd behaviour drove the stock market panic.
The implication is usually negative—that people abandon independent judgment to follow the group.
- financial contagionCrisis transmission between economies
- stock market crashRapid decline in share prices
- sheep mentalityUnthinking conformity to group
- follow the crowdAdopt majority behavior
- bubblesGas-filled liquid spheres
market bubble · conformity · groupthink · speculation · mob mentality · group polarization · social proof · bandwagon effect · crowd psychology · deindividuation · hive mind · mass hysteria · survival instinct · social influence · panic selling · mimicry · viral trend · pack mentality
herd behaviourautonomy
Independent decision-making capacity
self-direction · freethinking · self-determination · self-reliance · rugged individualism
herd behaviournonconformity
Rejection of prevailing norms
individualism · contrarianism · dissent · iconoclasm · standing alone
herd behaviourcritical thinking
Objective evaluation of information
due diligence · skepticism · analytical thinking · evidence-based reasoning · intellectual rigor
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