herd instinct
Follow the crowd
Herd instinct is the tendency to think or act as part of a group rather than as an individual.
The term borrows from animal behavior—sheep following the flock, fish schooling together—to describe human conformity.
It usually carries a critical edge, suggesting people abandon independent judgment to do what others are doing: Herd instinct drove the panic selling.
Also called herd mentality or mob mentality.
Protection through group size
- crowd psychologyStudy of group influence
- mass hysteriaShared irrational public fear
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
- contagionDisease spread by contact
tribal · belonging · social cohesion · in-group · collective behavior · deindividuation · social identity · mimicry
Conformity-driven poor decisions
- peer pressureInfluence from one's equals
- mob mentalityCollective irrationality in groups
- bandwagonSurging popular cause
- fitting inGaining social acceptance
compliance · uniformity · consensus · norms · assimilation · conventionality · orthodoxy · acquiescence
safety in numbers
Protection through group size
- crowd psychologyStudy of group influence
- mass hysteriaShared irrational public fear
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
contagion · tribal · belonging · social cohesion · in-group · collective behavior · deindividuation · social identity · mimicry · imitation
groupthink
Conformity-driven poor decisions
- peer pressureInfluence from one's equals
- mob mentalityCollective irrationality in groups
- bandwagonSurging popular cause
fitting in · compliance · uniformity · consensus · norms · assimilation · conventionality · orthodoxy · acquiescence · following the crowd
stampede
Frenzied mass flight
pack · migration · flock · swarm · pod · gaggle · troop · colony · hive · cluster
- animal behaviorsswimming, running, walking, jumping, flying
- conformityconformity, conforming, conform, conformist, conformism
- instinctsprimal urge, fight-or-flight, fight or flight, self-preservation, inherited traits
- following behaviorsstalking, trailing, shadowing, tracking, tailing
- Nietzschewill to power, overman, superman, slave morality, Zarathustra
- cattlecow, moo, cows, bull, bulls
herd instinctindividualism
Doctrine of personal independence
nonconformity · autonomy · self-reliance · self-direction · contrarianism
herd instinctindividuality
Unique personal character
self-sufficiency · solitary nature · rugged individualism · personal autonomy · singularity
herd, shepherd, instinct, herds, herding, instincts, herder, herded, instinctual