MENTAL COMBAT: Understanding and Controlling Mob Behavior

The Mob Mentality

A mob is quite an interesting dynamic. Mobs consist of a number of individuals acting in
concert and with some unifying purpose or goal. The mob functions almost as if it were
some single alien entity with a mind of it's own.

Those who get caught up in mob mentality can easily get swept away with the mob
consensus, the mob rule, mob mentality.

They may stop functioning or thinking as individuals. They become more a part of
a unit.

A mob scene can quickly reduce individuals to their most base and primitive level of
social conduct. Things that an individual would never even conceive of doing ordinarily,
they could easily find themselves doing, condoning or participating in during a mob rule
scenario.

This dynamic of mob rule is extremely powerful. It can be as if the individual
participants get possessed with a living spirit that overtakes, subdues and
controls their actions. Under the spirit of mob rule their is often little thought,
only a compelling force that urges those caught up in it to move in unison to
complete their objective.

One thing you need to understand is that this perception of a mob "spirit"
is in fact a reality. There is indeed such a thing. A real mob spirit that can
overtake and control a group.

From studying mob mentality several conclusions can be reached that can
help us to better deal with it. A mob is a mob is a mob; but we can break a
mob down to its components to under it.

The basic component of any mob is the various individuals who are
participating in the mob

Each of them has a history, each has a personality and actually a private
opinion about what is going on. Within any mob you are going to probably have
a number of mindless individuals who get caught up in an orgy of rebellion or
violence. For some of them this may be just recreational mayhem. There is little
that you could say to appeal to them because they are in a frenzy; those
engaging in recreational mayhem may even be some of the most active or
zealous participants.

One thing one should do in order to quell any mob situation is to identify
the leaders. Understand that the majority of mob participants are not
leaders and are merely responding to the license of the moment.

What most participants do becomes doable for them only because others
are doing it or cheering them on. A combination of emotions is impacting
them including a momentary sense of bravado or invincibility.

They are encouraged by the strength of the mob, the size of it and the fact
that they are in unison with the prevailing thought or purpose.

A participant is usually operating much more on adrenaline and emotion than
on reason or intellect.

Mob rule can overtake people, particularly the weak, in the same way that mass
hypnosis or hysteria can affect a person’s emotions. They can become literally
drunk with emotion. This emotion may be the spirit of rebellion; revelry; rage;
anger; lynching; revenge or anything else. You should understand that even the
individuals you are dealing with might have taken leave of their senses for a
moment. They are intoxicated by the situation and should be regarded as such.

Any mob must have leaders. These leaders have a tremendous amount of control over
the behavior of the mob. If we could identify the leaders and get them to respond
appropriately then any mob could be controlled.

All who participate in a mob may share common opinions, ideas or goals but most
are only responding to the moment and doing so with very little thought or
consideration of any type. It is generally not just one but several leaders who spur
a mob on.

Take one leader down and another leader rises to take his place. These secondary
leaders may emerge from the mob and may in fact be people who up until that point had
no thought or inclination to be a leader.

The answer is not to take a leader down. This may work, but it can be more effective
to identify them and control them.

The most important thing is that a mob forms a symbiotic relationship with the
group. For a moment, a mob is united. They are brethren. They are a team.
Almost any member of the mob can impact or control the behavior of the rest
of the group as long as they are identified as members of the same group and take a
position of leadership that is accepted.