Hysterical contagion

Hysterical contagion

Hysterical contagion occurs when a group of people show signs of a physical problem or illness when in reality there are psychological and social forces at work. Hysterical contagion is a strong form of social contagion, which describes the copycat effect of imitative behaviour based on the power of suggestion and word of mouth influence, because the symptoms often include those associated with clinical hysteria.

June bug epidemic

The June bug epidemic serves as a classic example of hysterical contagion. In 1962 a mysterious disease broke out in a dressmaking department of a US textile factory. The symptoms included numbness, nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. Word of a bug in the factory that would bite its victims and develop the above symptoms quickly spread. Soon sixty two employees developed this mysterious illness, some of whom were hospitalized. The news media reported on the case. After research by company physicians and experts from the US Public Health Service Communicable Disease Center, it was concluded that the case was one of mass hysteria.

While the researchers believed some workers were bitten by the bug, anxiety was likely the cause of the symptoms. No evidence was ever found for a bug which could cause the above flu-like symptoms, nor did all workers demonstrate bites.

Workers concluded that the environment was quite stressful; the plant had recently opened, was quite busy and organization was poor. Further, most of the victims reported high levels of stress in their lives. Social forces seemed at work too. Of the 62 employees that reported symptoms, 59 worked on the first shift, 58 worked in the same area, and 50 of the 62 cases occurred in the two consecutive days after the media supposedly “sensationalized” the event. Most of the employees who became sick took days off to recuperate.

Somewho have questioned whether the incident was a massive cover-up, but most evidence suggests psychological and social forces were at work at the clothing factory.

Further reading

"The June Bug: A Study of Hysterical Contagion" by Alan C. Kerckhoff, Kurt W. Back


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Contagion — may refer to: In medicine Infectious disease, also known as contagious disease, with infection, or the infectious agent, also known as (a) contagion In media Batman: Contagion, a story arc in the Batman comic book series Contagion (novel), a… …   Wikipedia

  • Emotional contagion — is the tendency to catch and feel emotions that are similar to and influenced by those of others. One view developed by John Cacioppo of the underlying mechanism is that it represents a tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize facial… …   Wikipedia

  • collective behaviour — ▪ psychology Introduction       the kinds of activities engaged in by sizable but loosely organized groups of people. Episodes of collective behaviour tend to be quite spontaneous, resulting from an experience shared by the members of the group… …   Universalium

  • Hysteria — This article is about the state of mind. For other uses, see Hysteria (disambiguation). Women under hysteria. Hysteria, in its colloquial use, describes unmanageable emotional excesses. People who are hysterical often lose self control due to an… …   Wikipedia

  • Mass hysteria — other names include collective hysteria, group hysteria, or collective obsessional behavior is the manifestation of the same or similar hysterical symptoms by more than one person.[1][2] A common manifestation of mass hysteria occurs when a group …   Wikipedia

  • Mass psychogenic illness — (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness,[1] is “the rapid spread of illness signs and symptoms affecting members of a cohesive group, originating from a nervous system disturbance involving excitation, loss or alteration of function, whereby… …   Wikipedia

  • Hypothèse sociopsychologique — Modèle sociopsychologique du phénomène ovni Altocumulus lenticularis, nuage ayant pu entrainer des méprises complexes. Le modèle sociopsychologique du phénomène ovni (MSP), fondé sur une méthodologie scientifique, explique que la plupart des… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Modele sociopsychologique du phenomene ovni — Modèle sociopsychologique du phénomène ovni Altocumulus lenticularis, nuage ayant pu entrainer des méprises complexes. Le modèle sociopsychologique du phénomène ovni (MSP), fondé sur une méthodologie scientifique, explique que la plupart des… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Modèle Sociopsychologique Du Phénomène Ovni — Altocumulus lenticularis, nuage ayant pu entrainer des méprises complexes. Le modèle sociopsychologique du phénomène ovni (MSP), fondé sur une méthodologie scientifique, explique que la plupart des observations d Objet volant non identifié ont… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • List of psychology topics — This page aims to list all topics related to psychology. This is so that those interested in the subject can monitor changes to the pages by clicking on Related changes in the sidebar. It is also to see the gaps in Wikipedia s coverage of the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”