An Examination of Emergent Norms and Emergent Social Structures in Collective Behavior Situations

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Abstract
Although the emergent norm, emergent social structure perspective has been lauded for studying collective behavior, the perspective has not been put to empirical use. In this paper, we use the emergent norm, emergent social structure perspective to describe and analyze collective behavior incidents. These incidents were precipitated by traveling evangelical preachers at a large midwestern university. Data were gathered for this study through systematic observation (including photography), field notes, and informant discussions. We found that the emergent norm, emergent social structure perspective can be used to describe collective behavior and can facilitate understanding why collective behavior occurs.