The ideas le Bon explores in this book are extremely relevant to today's society and were of pivotal importance in the early years of group psychology. Applications include financial market behaviour and political delusions.
First published in 1899 during a period of crisis for French democracy, The Psychology of Socialism details Le Bon's view of socialism and radicalism primarily as religious movements. The emotionalism and hysteria of the period--especially as manifested...
In this book, Charles Mackay discusses the irrational behaviors of crowds in the economy, war and magic. He gives several different examples of market bubbles, such as the Mississippi Scheme and the infamous Tulip Mania in the Netherlands. Ever since it...
The rise of mass media has changed the way societies think, and that they can think as a whole. French psychologist and sociologist GUSTAVE LE BON (1841-1931) recognized that late in the 19th century when he wrote what would become a foundational work...
The outbreak of World War I saw the collapse of socialist notions of class solidarity and reaffirmed the enduring strength of nationalism. The workers of the world did not unite, but turned on one another and slaughtered their fellows in what was then...
The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind is a classic and fascinating crowd psychology study authored by Gustave Le Bon and first published in 1895. In the book, Le Bon claims that there are several characteristics of crowd psychology: "impulsiveness,...