Collective Effervescence as Perceived Emotional Synchrony: Current Studies on Social Psychology of Collective Behavior and Gatherings
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62174/psocial.11050Keywords:
collective effervescence, collective emotions, collective rituals, emotional synchrony, , social identityAbstract
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.References
Barańczuk, U. (2019). The Five Factor Model of personality and social support: A meta-analysis. Journal of Research in Personality, 81, 38–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2019.05.002
Basabe, N. (2021). Rituales colectivos: La vitalidad emocional de los grupos y las sociedades [Collective rituals: The emotional vitality of groups and societies]. In
J.F. Morales y E. Gaviria, E. (Eds.) Redescubrir las relaciones interpersonales
(pp.59-86). Sanz y Torres. ISBN: 978-84-18316-18-0
Bouchat, P., Rimé, B., Van Eycken, R., & Nils, F. (2020). The virtues of collective gatherings: A study on the positive effects of a major scouting event. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 50, 189–201. https://www.doi.org.10.1111/jasp.12649
Bouchat, P., Pizarro, J. J., Páez, D., Zumeta, L., Basabe, N., Wlodarczyk, A., Hatibovic, F., & Rimé, B. (2024). The contributions of group identification and emotional synchrony in understanding collective gatherings. A meta-analysis of thirteen studies. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302231223897
Buecker, S., Maes, M., Denissen, J. J. A., & Luhmann, M. (2020). Loneliness and the Big Five personality traits: A meta‐analysis. European Journal of Personality, 34(1), 8–28. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2229
Castro-Abril, P., Da Costa, S., Navarro-Carrillo, G., Caicedo-Moreno, A., Gracia-Leiva, M., Bouchat, P., Cordero, B., Méndez, L., & Paez, D. (2021). Social identity, perceived emotional synchrony, creativity, social representations, and participation in social movements: The case of the 2019 Chilean populist protests. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(764434). https://www.doi.org.10.3389/fpsyg.2021.764434
Chung, V., Grèzes, J., & Pacherie, E. (2023). Collective emotion: A framework for experimental research. Emotion Review, 16(1), 28-45. https://doi.org/10.1177/17540739231214533
Collins, R. (2004). Interaction ritual chains. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400851744
Collins, R. (2014). Interaction ritual chains and collective effervescence. In C. von Scheve & M. Salmela (Eds.), Collective emotions (online edn, 16 Apr. 2014). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199659180.003.0020
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience.
Cusi, O., Alfaro-Beracoechea, L., Sánchez, M., & Alonso-Arbiol, I. (2022). Frecuencia de participación en encuentros colectivos, sincronía emocional percibida y emociones de trascendencia en una muestra de jóvenes de México [Frequency of participation in collective meetings, perceived emotional synchrony and emotions of transcendence in a sample of young people in México]. Revista de Psicología, 18(36), 27–46. https://doi.org/10.46553/RPSI.18.36.2022.p27-46
da Costa, S., & Páez, D. (2015). Afectividad inducida e impacto en la creatividad, crecimiento personal después del cambio y ajuste percibido al narrar una experiencia emocional intensa. Anales de Psicología, 31(2), 717–725. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.31.2.174551
da Costa S., Páez, D., Martí-González, M., Díaz, V., & Bouchat, P. (2023). Social movements and collective behavior: An integration of meta-analysis and systematic review of social psychology studies. Frontiers in Psychology, 14(1096877). https://www.doi.org.10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1096877
da Costa, S. (2024). Positive valence collective rituals in Spain 2023 and their effect in collective efficacy and social identification. ISPP's 2024 Annual Meeting 4 - 6 July 2023, Santiago, Chile.
da Costa, S., Rime, B., & Páez, D. (2025). El estudio de la efervescencia colectiva por la psicología social actual, in Manuel González Navarro, Juan Soto Ramírez, Iris Monroy Velasco & Jorge Mendoza García. Coords. (2025) Libro X Congreso Nacional y 2ª. Reunión Internacional de Psicología Social 2024 de la SOMEPSO (Sociedad Mexicana de Psicología Social). Mexico: Eds. Somepso
De Rivera, J. (2023). Forming a global community: Addressing global challenges through human interdependence. [Formando una comunidad global: Abordando desafíos globales a través de la interdependencia humana]. PSocial,9, 2.
Drury, J., & Reicher, S. (2009). Collective psychological empowerment as a model of social change: Researching crowds and power. Journal of Social Issues, 65(4), 707–725. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2009.01622.x
Draper, S. (2014). Effervescence and solidarity in religious organizations. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 53(2), 339–355. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12109
Figueroa et al. (2024). Participation in La Tirana religious’ Carnival and social identification. Manuscript. Universidad A. Prat, Iquique, Chile.
Fiske, A. P., Seibt, B., & Schubert, T. (2019). The sudden devotion emotion: Kama muta and the cultural practices whose function is to evoke it. Emotion Review, 11(1), 74–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073917723167
Gabriel, S., Valenti, J., Naragon-Gainey, K., & Young, A. F. (2017). The psychological importance of collective assembly: Development and validation of the Tendency for Effervescent Assembly Measure (TEAM). Psychological Assessment 29, 1349–1362. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000434
Gabriel, S., Naidu, E., Paravati, E., Morrison, C. D., & Gainey, K. (2020). Creating the sacred from the profane: Collective effervescence and everyday activities. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(1), 129–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1689412
Haidt, J. (2006). The happiness hypothesis: Finding modern truth in ancient wisdom [Electronic resource]. Basic Books. https://archive.org/details/happinesshypothe00jona
Hobson, N. M., Schroeder, J., Risen, J. L., Xygalatas, D., & Inzlicht, M. (2017). The psychology of rituals: An integrative review and process-based framework. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 22(3), 260-284. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868317734944
Hopkins, N., Reicher, S. D., Khan, S. S., Tewari, S., Srinivasan, N., & Stevenson, C. (2016). Explaining effervescence: Investigating the relationship between shared social identity and positive experience in crowds. Cognition and Emotion, 30, 20–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2015.1015969
Kahn, K. B., Unzueta, M. M., Davies, P. G., Alston, A. T., & Lee, J. K. (2015). Will you value me and do I value you? The effect of phenotypic racial stereotypicality on organizational evaluations. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 59, 130-138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2015.03.008
Keltner, D. (2024) Awe: The new science of everyday wonder and how it can transform your life. Penguin.
Liebst, L. S. (2019). Exploring the sources of collective effervescence: A multilevel study. Sociological Science, 6(2), 27–42. https://doi.org/10.15195/v6.a2
Mairon, N., Nahum, M., Stolk, A., Knight, R. T., & Perry, A. (2020). Behavioral and EEG Measures show no amplifying effects of shared attention on attention or memory. Scientific Reports 10(8458). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65311-7
McFarland, S., Webb, M., & Brown, D. (2012). All humanity is my ingroup: A measure and studies of identification with all humanity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(5), 830–853. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028724
McPhail, C., & Wohlstein, R. T. (1983). Individual and collective behaviors within gatherings, demonstrations, and riots. Review of Sociology, 9, 579-600. https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV.SO.09.080183.003051
Mogan, R., Fischer, R., & Bulbulia, J. A. (2017). To be in synchrony or not? A meta-analysis of synchrony’s effects on behavior, perception, cognition and affect. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 72, 13–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.03.009
Moscovici, S. (1988/1993). The invention of society. Psychological explanations for social phenomena (W.D. Halls transl) [original work published 1988]. Polity Press.
Nestor, B., Sutherland, S., & Garber, J. (2022). Theory of mind performance in depression: A meta-analysis, Journal of Affective Disorders,303, 233- 244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.02.028
Páez, D., Javaloy, F., Wlodarczyk, A., Espelt, E., & Rimé, B. (2013). El movimiento 15-M: Sus acciones como rituales, compartir social, creencias, valores y emociones. [15-March movement: Their actions as rituals, social sharing, beliefs, values, and emotions]. Revista de Psicología Social 28, 19–33. https://www.doi.org.10.1174/021347413804756078
Páez, D., Rimé, B., Basabe, N., Wlodarczyk, A., & Zumeta, L. N. (2015). Psychosocial effects of perceived emotional synchrony in collective gatherings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108, 711–729. https://www.doi.org.10.1037/pspi0000014
Páez, D., & da Costa, S. (2022). Movimientos Sociales: Psicología de los movimientos sociales. Prisanoticias Colecciones y EMSE EDAPP
Páez, D., Rimé, B., Bouchat, P., da Costa, S., & Pizarro, J. J. (2025). Perceived Emotional Synchrony: A Social Psychological Perspective on Collective Effervescence. In S. Tutenges & P. Smith (Eds.), Collective Effervescence in the 21st Century. Temple University Press.
Pelletier, P. (2018). The pivotal role of perceived emotional synchrony in the context of terrorism: Challenges and lessons learned from the March 2016 attack in Belgium. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 48, 477–487. https://www.doi.org.10.1111/jasp.12526
Pels F, Kleinert J, Mennigen F (2018) Group flow: A scoping review of definitions, theoretical approaches, measures and findings. PLoS ONE 13(12): e0210117. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210117
Pizarro, J. J., Alfaro-Beracoechea, L., Cusi, O., Ibarra, M. L., Zumeta, L. N., & Basabe, N. (2021a). Eventos locales, efectos globales: Emociones trascendentes e identificación con toda la humanidad [Local events, global effects: Transcendent emotions and identification with all humanity.]. Revista de Psicología 39, 625–654. https://www.doi.org.10.18800/psico.202102.005
Pizarro, J. J., Basabe, N., Fernández, I., Carrera, P., Apodaca, P., Man Ging, C. I., Cusi, O., & Páez, D. (2021b). Self-transcendent emotions and their social effects: Awe, elevation and kama muta promote a human identification and motivations to help others. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(September), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.709859
Pizarro, J. J., Zumeta, L., Bouchat, P., Wlodarczyk, A., Rimé, B., Basabe, N., Amutio, A., & Páez, D. (2022). Emotional processes, collective behavior and social movements: A Meta-analytic review of collective effervescence outcomes during collective gatherings and demonstrations. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 974683. https://www.doi.org.10.3389/fpsyg.2022.974683.
Premack D., & Woodruff G. (1978). Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behavioral and Brain Science 1, 515–526. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00076512
Rennung, M., & Göritz, A. S. (2016). Prosocial con sequences of interpersonal synchrony: A meta-analysis. Zeitschrift Fur Psychologie, 224(3), 168–189. http://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000252
Rimé, B. (2009). Emotion elicits the social sharing of emotion: Theory and empirical review. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073908097189
Rimé, B., Bouchat, P., Paquot, L., & Giglio, L. (2020). Intrapersonal, interpersonal, and social outcomes of the social sharing of emotion. Current Opinion in Psychology, 31, 127–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.08.024
Rimé B., & Páez, D. (2023). Why we gather: A new look, empirically documented, at Émile Durkheim's theory of collective assemblies and collective effervescence. Perspectives in Psychologial Science, (6), 1306-1330. DOI: 10.1177/17456916221146388
Rincón‐Unigarro, C., Jaramillo, A., Riascos, C., Checa, G., Da Costa, S., López‐López, W., Páez, D., Díaz‐Fuentes, L., Gómez‐Ortiz, D., Ordoñez, C., Ortíz, I., Velásquez, V., Venegas, P., & Jaramillo, J. (2024). Art in movement, art as movement: Collective action and collective gathering for intangible cultural heritage sustainability. Political Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.13071
Shteynberg, G., Hirsh, J. B., Wolf, W., Bargh, J. A., Boothby, E. J., Colman, A. M., Echterhoff, G., & Rossignac-Milon, M. (2023). Theory of collective mind. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 27(11), 1019–1031. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2023.06.009
Slaughter, V., Imuta, K., Peterson, C. C., & Henry, J. D. (2015). Meta-analysis of theory of mind and peer popularity in the preschool and early school years. Child Development, 86(4), 1159-1174. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12372
Van Cappellen, P., & Rimé, B. (2014). Positive emotions and self-transcendence. In V. Saroglou (Ed.), Religion, personality, and social behavior (pp. 123–145). Psychology Press. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278034613_Positive_emotions_and_self-transcendence
Vicaria, I. M., & Dickens, L. (2016). Meta-analyses of the intra- and interpersonal outcomes of interpersonal coordination. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 40(4), 335–361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-016-0238-8
von Scheve, C., Beyer, M., Ismer, S., Kozłowska, M., & Morawetz, C. (2014). Emotional entrainment, national symbols, and identification: A naturalistic study around the men’s football World Cup. Current Sociology. 62, 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392113507463
Walker, C. (2010). Experiencing flow: Is doing it together better than doing it alone? The Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(1), 3-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760903271116
West, T. N., Le Nguyen, K., Zhou, J., Prinzing, M. M., Wells, J. L., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2021). How the affective quality of social connections may contribute to public health: Prosocial tendencies account for the links between positivity resonance and behaviors that reduce the spread of COVID-19. Affective Science, 2(3), 241-261. https://www.doi.org.10.1007/s42761-021-00035-z
Wlodarczyk, A., Zumeta, L., Pizarro, J. J., Bouchat, P., Hatibovic, F., Basabe, N., & Rimé, B. (2020). Perceived emotional synchrony in collective gatherings: Validation of a short scale and proposition of an integrative measure. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01721
Wlodarczyk, A., Zumeta, L., Basabe, N., & et al. (2021). Religious and secular collective gatherings, perceived emotional synchrony and self-transcendent emotions: Two longitudinal studies. Current Psychology, 42, 4754–4771. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01826-0
Yudkin, D. A., Prosser, A., Heller, S. M., McRae, K., Chakroff, A., & Crockett, M. J. (2022). Prosocial correlates of transfor mative experiences at secular multi-day mass gatherings. Nature Communications, 13(1), Article 2600. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29600-1
Zabala, J., Conejero, S., Pascual, A., Zumeta, L. N., Pizarro, J. J., & Alonso-Arbiol, I. (2023). Korrika, running in collective effervescence through the Basque Country: A model of collective processes and their positive psychological effects. Frontiers in Psychology, 14(1095763). https://www.doi.org.10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1095763
Zabala, J., Vázquez, A., Conejero, S., & Pascual, A. (2024). Exploring the origins of identity fusion: Shared emotional experience activates fusion with the group over time. The British Journal of Social Psychology, 63, 1479–1496. https://www.doi.org.10.1111/bjso.12723
Zlobina, A., and Dávila, M. C. (2022). Preventive behaviours during the pandemic: The role of collective rituals, emotional synchrony, social norms and moral obligation. British Journal of Social Psychology, 00, 1–19. https://www.doi.org.10.1111/bjso.12539
Zumeta, L., Basabe, N., Wlodarczyk, A., Bobowik, M., & Páez, D. (2016). Shared flow and positive collective gatherings. Anales de Psicología, 32(3), 793-801. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.32.3.261651
Zumeta, L. N., Castro-Abril, P., Méndez, L., Pizarro, J. J., Włodarczyk, A., Basabe, N., Navarro-Carrillo, G., Padoan-De Luca, S., da Costa, S., Alonso-Arbiol, I., Torres-Gómez, B., Cakal, H., Delfino, G., Techio, E. M., Alzugaray, C., Bilbao, M., Villagrán, L., López-López, W., Ruiz-Pérez, J. I., … Pinto, I. R. (2020).
Collective effervescence, self-transcendence, and gender differences in social well-being during 8 march demonstrations. Frontiers in Psychology, 11(December), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.607538
Zlobina, A., & Dávila, M. C. (2022). Preventive behaviours during the pandemic: The role of collective rituals, emotional synchrony, social norms and moral obligation. British Journal of Social Psychology, 00, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12539
