Sigmund Freud was an influential Austrian psychologist who created psychoanalysis. He proposed that the mind is divided into the id, ego, and super ego. According to Freud, the leader of a crowd is able to suspend rational thought and tap into primal urges, similar to how a hypnotist influences others. As a result, crowd behavior is driven by impulse and emotion rather than reason, and crowds act in antisocial, childlike ways.

1. Sigmund Freud on the Crowd.

2. Who was Sigmund Freud
• Probably the most well known
Psychologist.
• He was Austrian.
• He lived from 6 May 1856 – 23
September 1939.
• He created his own branch of
psychology known as
Psychoanalysis.
• He contributed greatly to the
field of Psychotherapy and to
theories of child development.

3. The Mind according to Freud.
• Id: All your basic impulses and
emotions. Avoid pain and have
pleasure.
‘I want it now…’
• Ego: Your rational and
negotiating part. Keeping the
Id happy in a reasonable way.
‘Lets find a good way to get it’
• Super Ego: Your principles and
idealistic part. Striving for
perfection.
‘You shouldn’t have that’

4. What might each part of the
mind be saying in the following
situation
1. A friend pushes you.
2. You see a bar of chocolate on a table.
3. You have to do your homework.
4. You are jogging.

5. Freud on the Crowd.
• According to Freud, the leader of
the crowd behaves like a
hypnotist.
• He is able to temporarily suspend
the Super Ego and unlock the Id.
As a result we have anti social
behavior.
• Therefore according to Freud, the
crowd is motivated by impulse
and feelings and behave akin to a
child.

6. Task 1:
• Compare and contrast the ideas of Freud and Le Bon on their
ideas of the Crowd.
• Using the example of the 2011 London Riots, how can a
psychologist explain the vandalism and looting that took place
in London.