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  • April 2020
  • Article
  • Current Directions in Psychological Science

Collective Emotions

By: Amit Goldenberg, David Garcia, Eran Halperin and James J. Gross
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Abstract

When analyzing situations in which multiple people are experiencing emotions together—whether the emotions are positive or negative and whether the situations are online or offline—we are intuitively drawn to the emotions of each individual in the situation. However, this type of analysis often seems incomplete. In many of the cases in which people experience emotions together, there appear to be emergent macro-level affective processes that cannot be readily captured at the individual level. This paper examines these macro-level affective phenomena, termed collective emotions. We open with a general review of research on collective psychological processes. We then define collective emotions and discuss their key features. Next, we focus our attention on the emergent properties of collective emotions and map them using three dimensions: quality, magnitude, and time course. Finally, we discuss pressing open questions and future directions.

Keywords

Emotions; Social Psychology

Citation

Goldenberg, Amit, David Garcia, Eran Halperin, and James J. Gross. "Collective Emotions." Current Directions in Psychological Science 29, no. 2 (April 2020): 154–160.
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About The Author

Amit Goldenberg

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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More from the Authors

    • November 30, 2020
    • Harvard Business Review (website)

    Don’t Focus on the Most Expressive Face in the Audience

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    The Group Malleability Intervention: Addressing Intergroup Conflicts by Changing Perceptions of Outgroup Malleability

    By: Amit Goldenberg, J. J. Gross and Eran Halperin
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    Emotions and Emotion Regulation

    By: Svenja A. Wolf, Amit Goldenberg and Mickaël Campo
More from the Authors
  • Don’t Focus on the Most Expressive Face in the Audience By: Amit Goldenberg and Erika Weisz
  • The Group Malleability Intervention: Addressing Intergroup Conflicts by Changing Perceptions of Outgroup Malleability By: Amit Goldenberg, J. J. Gross and Eran Halperin
  • Emotions and Emotion Regulation By: Svenja A. Wolf, Amit Goldenberg and Mickaël Campo
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