Collective Effervescence as Perceived Emotional Synchrony: Current Studies on Social Psychology of Collective Behavior and Gatherings

Darío Paez, N. Basabe, B. Rimé, C. Figueroa, C. Rincón, J. Zabala, A Wlodarczyk, L. Zumeta, P. Bouchat, J.J. Pizarro, S, Da Costa

Abstract


This article provides a comprehensive synthesis of contemporary social psychological approaches to Collective Effervescence (CE), a construct originally introduced by Durkheim. It focuses particularly on the conceptualization and empirical operationalization of CE as Perceived Emotional Synchrony (PES), a bottom-up socio-emotional process emerging in collective gatherings (CGs) through mechanisms such as shared attention, behavioral synchrony, and emotional entrainment. We review the proximal psychosocial outcomes of PES—specifically emotional activation and communal sharing—as well as its interrelation with social identification processes and broader socio-cognitive and socio-behavioral mechanisms involved in CGs. A sequential model of collective events (e.g., demonstrations, rituals, social activities) is presented, detailing the conditions that modulate CE intensity, including frequency, duration, contextual density, symbolic boundaries, type of gathering, and level of shared attention and coordination. Furthermore, we examine personality traits as dispositional antecedents of CE and present a meta-analytic integration of findings linking the Big Five dimensions with PES. The psychological consequences of PES are then analyzed, including the emergence of collective emotions, expansion of behavioral repertoires, cognitive creativity, and the elicitation of self-transcendent emotional states such as awe and kama muta. Finally, we discuss the implications of PES for beliefs about transcendence, collective efficacy, empowerment, and well-being, as well as its relevance for emerging theoretical frameworks, such as the theory of the collective mind.

Keywords


collective effervescence, collective emotions, collective rituals, emotional synchrony, , social identity

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.62174/psocial.11050

References


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