| Abstract: | Mass incidents are inevitable in contemporary China and the first thing we should learn is to adopt a correct attitude towards them. Based on the three elements—activity, interaction and sentiment—of collective behaviors in 52 mass incidents in China during 2007–2011, we find that collective behaviors in mass incidents show significant differences in activity, interaction and sentiment. A grade evaluation method is proposed to estimate the evolution of collective behaviors in 52 mass incidents and to classify such behaviors into five grades. Then the influence factors on the three elements are analyzed using multiple linear regression. The regression results demonstrate that the impacts of location, casualties, inner-group relations, group scale and duration on the three elements are very significant. Finally, in the light of the regression results, some implications of collective behavior in mass incidents are proposed for the relevant authorities in responding to mass incidents. |
