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It’s a red light, you are stood patiently waiting for the green man. There is no traffic. All of a sudden, a couple step out and cross the road. You briefly check and then follow suit. Odd, you wouldn’t have considered doing it until they crossed the road.

Why did you effortlessly follow them? Why were you so quick to forget about the green man? Is this an unexplored human phenomenon?

Buzz word incoming.. hello herd mentality.

I am sure you have all heard of this key phrase. It links to the idea that people’s behaviour and beliefs conform to those which they belong.

For example, you are at the pub and have decided not to drink alcohol. You arrive and meet up with some pals. They have all ordered a Guinness; they suggest that you should get one too. The first time they suggest it, you politely reject the notion. However, the second time, you realise that it’s a Friday, you have had a tough week and definitely deserve a Guinness.

Ordinarily you would have said no. You were influenced by your environment and conformed to the beliefs of your friendship group.

Now let’s flip the example on its head.

You are at the pub and have decided not to drink alcohol. You arrive and meet up with some pals. They have all ordered a Guinness; they suggest that you should get one too. The first time they suggest it, you politely reject the notion. However, the second time, you decide to put your foot down. You explain that alcohol is a normalised poison and that you have decided to prioritise your health. Not to mention, you will be able to have a fulfilled Saturday without feeling foggy.

Your three friends look around. One of them says “stop being boring, something will get you anyway”; the other says “yeah Kara don’t put a downer on tonight”. The third friend looks to you and says “yeah I guess you are right, I have been struggling to hit my fitness goals recently”.

The other two look at each other and say “well if you are both not drinking I guess we might as well get a soft drink next”.

You said no to drinking. One of your friends was influenced by your opinion. Then, the other two friends were influenced by their environment and conformed to the beliefs of your friendship group.

The 5% can have an influence on the other 95%

Maybe that was an ambitious example, but you get my point. Why do you think ‘peaceful’ protests manage to spiral so overwhelmingly out of control? Ordinary people catch themselves committing violent acts, all because they get caught up in the moment with a ‘mob mentality’. When the whole group is doing the same thing you start to believe that you have strength in numbers and feel a level of protection. Therefore, you catch yourself subconsciously peer pressured with a belief that you won’t get caught.

What have you got to lose anyway? A lot.

But your brain suppresses this answer.

Circling back round to the initial example of crossing the road on a red man because other people do:

1. You feel in a state of comfort because the mentality of ‘if they can do it, so can I’ comes into play
2. You don’t like the idea of someone walking ahead of you when you were waiting first (British queue etiquette)

I was crossing the road the other day and a couple stepped out ahead of me and crossed on a red man. The next time I was at a crossing, I checked to see if it was clear regardless of the green / red man. I crossed. Subsequently, the other people waiting checked and then followed me.

My brain started spiralling.

This is a pure 21st century example of herd mentality. You like to think that you are an independent thinker and not too easily influenced. However, it’s important to reflect on the fact that we are all human and a lot of our impulse and likeness is due to the innate nature of pack animals and survival.

We have come so far in the last 1000 years yet we are all still at the mercy of our human instinct.

Anyway, I woke up today and thought this was worth sharing.

Next time you are at a red man crossing, see whether you will be the influencer or be influenced….