Mass Hysteria & Moral Panic Lecture Notes

This flashcard set covers the definitions, key sociological figures, and historical examples of mass hysteria and moral panic as discussed in the lecture.

Mass hysteria

An imagined or assumed threat that causes physical symptoms among a large number of people; symptoms typically include smelling gas, seeing strange objects, acting like animals, and fainting.

Robert Bartholomew

Sociologist and author of The Martians Have Landed: A History of Media-Driven Panics and Hoaxes who explained that mass hysteria can result in real symptoms triggered by stories with no apparent cause.

Tennessee high school gas incident

A case of mass hysteria where a teacher reported a petrol-like smell, resulting in $100$ people reporting dizziness, nausea, and shortness of breath despite no gas leak or abnormal blood test results being found.

The War of the Worlds broadcast (October 30, 1938)

A radio broadcast adapted from H. G. Wells' novel and narrated by Orson Welles that caused listeners to believe an actual Martian invasion was occurring.

War of the Worlds audience statistics

Approximately $6$ million people heard the broadcast; $1.7$ million thought it was true, and $1.2$ million actually exhibited hysterical behavior.

Moral panic

A fear that grips a large number of people that some evil is threatening the well-being of society, usually expressed as outrage from an older generation towards a younger generation.

Stanley Cohen

Emeritus Professor of Sociology who defined moral panic as a state where people feel a societal norm is being seriously threatened.

Social liberalism and moral panic

Large-scale shifts toward social liberalism, such as the civil rights and women's liberation movements of the $1960s$ and $70s$, often create moral panic among social conservatives.

Rock 'n' roll moral panic

A widespread fear during the civil rights movement era that this music style would lead to promiscuity and anti-social behavior in younger generations.

19th century Victorian England waltz

A dance that caused moral panic because it required partners to hold each other closely, leading older generations to fear the disintegration of moral values.

Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, and KISS

Late $20\text{th}$-century heavy metal acts that sparked controversy and conservative protests as part of a moral panic before eventually being accepted into American culture.

Distinction between mass hysteria and moral panic

Mass hysteria involves physical effects and symptoms such as changes in behavior or well-being, while moral panic is a state of fear induced by the perceived threat to a societal norm.