Christmas spirit or crowd mentality…
I caught an article on Science Daily about how people enjoy a movie more when they see it with other people. Now this sounds pretty “doh!” to me, but then science often proves the known in order to move on and be sure they understand the underlying reasons for things. However, in reading the article, I couldn’t help but think that maybe this behavior might be a bit more prevalent that just with movies. For example the authors said:
the researchers videotaped participants and found that synchrony of evaluations can be traced to glances at the other person during the film and adoption of the observed expressions.
That sounds like the sort of behavior that you observe in crowds of any type — whether that behavior is positive or negative. For example, people in a protest march will act out not with their usual behavior but following the visual and auditory behaviors of the rest of the marchers. Often, not believing that they did what they did afterward. It’s only a step beyond their normal behavior and; no, they wouldn’t have done it IF they’d been on their own. In a crowd, we feel anonymous and able to do things that we wouldn’t ordinarily do and it’s that gaining cues from others who are not following their own inner rules of behavior that leads to the violence often seen in crowd situations.
On the other hand, I’m going to put a positive spin on this, maybe this same behavior can model “good” behavior also. During the Christmas season, nothing really changes but people feel that they aught to behave “better” because of the season. It takes very little for the first person to wish another, “Happy Holidays”. Then they wish someone else well, and the behavior spreads. Watch the Salvation Army cauldrons, often no one gives a donation, then one person does and many others who observed the dropping of the coins also give. So, this crowd watching for signals to behavior can also be a positive thing — not just causing riots but random acts of kindness.
So, when you’re out in public think about the behavior that you want others about you to model when you act. Maybe your random act of kindness can be to smile at people when they wait on you. Take the time to sincerely wish them a “Happy Holiday” rather than just parroting the words. What you do may be what causes another to pass it on. If we all pass on kindness and good behavior it may not stop wars or end our environmental crisis or even pay your bills. But if we all just try to act a bit nicer to each other in little ways that don’t hurt us or take away from our ordinary rush and business — perhaps, just perhaps, it will make the world a bit of a nicer place to be and all that karma just might add up to make this a better place to live, not just during the holiday season, but every day.
Pollyanna-ish, probably — but, it is based in science, so give it a try.