Skip to main content
Store
Dictionary
Dictionary
Store
Blog
World
Help
Advertise
Chat
System Status
Information Collection Notice
Trademark Concerns
reCAPTCHA Privacy
Terms of Service
reCAPTCHA Terms
Privacy Policy
Accessibility
Report a Bug
Data Request
Contact Us
Security
DMCA
© 1999–2026 Urban Dictionary ®
Store
Books
Regional
Mugs
Tees
Hoodies
Beanies
Halloween
Request a product
Pro Customization
Create unique products with your own words and definitions
Preview
Personalize Your Design
Your Word
Your Definition
A framework proposing that crowds can induce dissociative states in individuals—a loss of self-awareness, a merging with the collective, a splitting off of individual identity. Crowd Dissociation occurs when the intensity of collective experience overwhelms individual boundaries: in riots, in ecstatic gatherings, in protests. The theory explains both the danger (mob violence, loss of moral constraints) and the possibility (collective joy, transcendent experience) of crowd participation. The crowd becomes a dissociated self—acting, feeling, being in ways individuals alone wouldn't.
Text fits
Save
Cancel