Emotions 2.0: When I Feel What You Feel

Collective emotions are powerful psychological forces that profoundly influence our thoughts, feelings, and actions

Amit Goldenberg posits that the foundation of social sciences lies in the idea that people become more emotional when they gather. He suggests that people's emotional experiences are primarily collective, with individuals' emotions becoming amplified and distorted within group settings. Such dynamics can lead to unpredictable and sometimes destructive outcomes, as seen when panic and rage take over groups, focusing attention on the wrong issues and leading to poor decisions.

Shankar Vedantam also comments on the nature of emotions being not just personal occurrences, but phenomena shared across individuals, hinting at the concept of emotional contagion where one's emotions echo the group's mood.

Individuals' emotions can become amplified and distorted when experienced in a group setting, leading to unpredictable and sometimes destructive outcomes

Goldenberg observed that events like the Ferguson protests could lead to a "crowd distortion effect," where individual emotions influence the collective, and emotional intensity can grow similar to a spreading forest fire. Individuals often adjust their emotional responses to create a balance within their immediate collective context such as a family. However, in more extensive group settings, this adjustment can lead to amplified outcomes if emotional compensation does not occur.

Moreover, Goldenberg uses the family as an example to illustrate how one person's mood can affect the entire group, implying that this dynamic could lead to amplified and unpredictable emotions in larger groups.

Our brains are wired to attend to and conform with the emotional expressions of those around us, a phenomenon known as emotional contagion

Goldenberg elaborates on emotional contagion, describing it as the process of adopting the emotions present in one's social environment. This contagion is influenced by factors such as mimicry, using others' emotions as cues, and the activation of brain categories upon perceiving emotions like panic. He notes that negative emotions, due to their implications for survival, tend to spread faster and more intensely.

An experiment involving eye tracking showed that it is challenging to ignore expressive faces in a crowd, influencing perceptions of the collective emotion. Vedantam adds how in political settings, the audience is often influenced by the most expressive individuals.

Groups can foster an "us vs. them" mentality that leads to the preferential sharing and amplification of negative emotions over positive ones

Goldenberg points out that the negativity bias, where negative emotions attract more attention, is especially pronounced on social media, with public figures more likely to share content with negative content, thus increasing the negative content consumed by users. He adds that this association of emotional information with a preference for more extreme expressions creates a cycle of emotion amplification on social networks.

Furthermore, groups can amp ...

The article explores various case studies to illustrate how powerful collective emotions manifest in different contexts such as religious ceremonies, protests, and financial markets, as described by Amit Goldenberg and Dimitris Xygalatas and influenced by Goldenberg’s own experiences.

Powerful collective emotions can arise during religious rituals and celebrations, as seen in Amit Goldenberg's childhood experiences with Yom Kippur and the protests in Israel

During Yom Kippur, Amit Goldenberg recalls the anxiety and simultaneous calming sensation associated with the collective prayer, despite fasting. The shared focus on a collective verdict lessened individual anxiety, revealing the power of collective experiences.

Goldenberg's experiences in Israeli protests against evictions in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem also demonstrated collective emotions' cathartic nature. For nearly a year, Goldenberg observed that participating in protests was sustainable due to the mix of sharing anger and positive interactions, emphasizing the importance of both in maintaining participation in the protests.

Rituals and collective activities often provide a sense of shared identity and purpose that can soothe individual anxieties and promote social cohesion

Xygalatas describes a firewalking ritual in a Spanish village, where villagers demonstrate unity and a shared sense of identity by forming a human chain and ascending to the venue together. The collective expression of emotions during such events reinforces the sense of community and shared purpose, as individuals find camaraderie and relief from personal distress.

Goldenberg highlights rituals and collective activities, such as physical touch and ceremonies, as means to manage anxiety and promote cohesion among participants. These activities resonate with fostering social cohesion and shaping individual and group identity.

Additionally, Xygalatas underlines the significant role rituals play in people’s lives, claiming they are fundamental to their identities. For instance, at the Kumbh Mela festival in India, participants embrace community living and overcome hardships, reflecting the cherished value of their participation despite the costs.

However, the intense emotions experienced during rituals can also lead to irrational and potentially harmful behavior, as seen in the case of the Weather Underground

The intensity of these emotions can be irrational, such as Alejandro’s participation in the firewalk despite health risks, spurred by the powerful feelings attached to the ritual.

Goldenberg and Xygalatas discuss high arousal rituals, such as dancing and singing, and their ability to create powerful episodic memories, th ...

Collective emotions are integral to human experience, and Shankar Vedantam, Amit Goldenberg, and Dimitris Xygalatas delve into their complex nature, revealing both the potential benefits and risks these emotions carry.

Collective emotions can have both positive and negative impacts, depending on how they are channeled and regulated

Shared emotions can propel us towards constructive or destructive behavior. Vedantam and Goldenberg underscore that collective emotions themselves aren't inherently positive or negative; the outcomes depend on how they are managed.

Rituals and other collective activities can help individuals cope with stress, anxiety, and grief by providing a sense of structure, predictability, and social connection

Rituals serve to regulate collective emotions by offering predictability, diminishing variability, and aiding individuals in managing their emotional experiences within a group context. Xygalatas illustrates that rituals can soothe modern anxieties as our biology hasn't adapted to contemporary stressors—rituals offer control and structure that alleviate anxiety. Allison Brooks’s study further supports this, finding that rituals can enhance performance by easing anxiety. Xygalatas also points out that rituals associated with death and grief provide a structured coping mechanism. Additionally, rituals generate a strong sense of connection and unity among participants, which may alleviate individual stresses. They are repetitive, rigid, and redundant, inducing a collective identity and purpose that can help manage anxiety.

However, the same mechanisms that make collective emotions powerful can also lead to the amplification of negative emotions, polarization, and the emergence of destructive group dynamics

The strong connections and unity forged by rituals can sometimes lead to the intensification of negative emotions, causing polarization or negative group dynamics if left unregulated. Vedantam and Goldenberg raise concerns that without motivation to regulate intense collective emotions such as rage or fear, such feelings can escalate dangerously. Goldenberg’s reference to the absence of mechanisms to balance these emotions implies the risk of amplification and destructive outcomes.

Effective leadership and social interventions may be necessary to harness the beneficial aspects of collective emotions while mitigating the risks

Leaders can play a crucial role in regulating collective emotions, as seen in FDR's attempts to manage the public's emotional response ...