Why Kind People Join Cruel Crowds: Risk of Collective Sadism |
Collective sadism spreads through emotional contagion playing on fear, anger, and excitement.
Crowds can shift their energy very quickly and can override personal values in seconds.
The need for belonging can push people into choices opposite to their authentic values.
The only thing more powerful than hate is love, along with healthy boundaries and compassionate communities.
Sadists are those people who take pleasure in the pain others experience. Although sadism has been recognized as a behavioral concern for over 100 years (Krafft-Ebing, 1898), Millon (2011) identified four distinct expressions of sadism, each driven by different psychological needs. Understanding these forms helps us recognize how cruelty shows up in everyday life and in broader social movements.
Spineless sadism is marked by insecurity, false bravado, and cowardice.
Tyrannical sadism is driven by the desire to use and abuse power.
Enforcing sadism is expressed by individuals who take pleasure enforcing punishment on those they feel “deserve” it.
Explosive sadism shows up in people whose cruelty erupts in unpredictable ways, and their fury can spill over everyone in their vicinity.
Is there a Normal Level of Sadism?
Not every spectator at a paramilitary operation or UFC match is a sadist, but many people do possess mild sadistic tendencies. The “everyday sadist” exhibits a willingness to go to some effort to cause suffering for another (Buckels et al., 2013). They may make jokes at others’ expense, intentionally humiliate others, set others up for failure, or simply take pleasure in others’ misfortune.
While many people think of sadism as an individual trait, today’s social climate shows that cruelty can also take shape collectively — amplified through group identity, shared emotion, and cultural narratives.
Collective Sadism: A Growing Problem
It’s no secret that nationalist movements around the globe have gained influence, often defined by aggressive beliefs and a minimizing view of women and female sexuality (Angel et al., 2015). Many men who align with these movements struggle with a shaky self-esteem or narcissistic traits that are bolstered by the subjugation of those they perceive as weaker. In these environments, the attraction to cruelty becomes socially sanctioned – and at times, celebrated.
Collective Sadism Spreads like the Plague
While some people may be simply more inclined to take pleasure in others’ suffering, whether it’s through direct emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, or through indirect observation of another’s pain, it seems that many more of us are at risk of being seduced into collective sadism than we could imagine.
Why Kind People Join Cruel Crowds
Here are five reasons people might join in sadistic group activities:
Emotional Contagion: people absorb and take on the feelings of the people around them. When fear, anger, excitement, or righteousness of an act are mounting in a group, people are biologically programmed (due to the presence of mirror neurons and group synchrony) to take on the feelings of those around them. It’s like the collective excitement at a sporting event as you watch your team take the lead.
Deindividuation: Individuals experience a loss of personal accountability within a group, and they metaphorically merge together into one malevolent “id.” Being a part of a crowd wreaking havoc or causing pain leads individuals to dissociate from their individual identity and become “the crowd.” This lets us off the hook with our own conscience – we rationalize that even if we’re engaging in a behavior that we would know was wrong if we were alone, engaging in it with a larger group makes it right, or at least “okay” to do.
Illusion of Moral Righteousness: Being in a group allows us to express the feelings or behaviors that we typically suppress. Hidden desires or beliefs we are normally able to keep in check are easier to conceal with the cover of a crowd.
Power Hunger and Leader Following: When a crowd acts as one in a unified attack, each crowd member is imbued with a sense of power. This gives typically less-than-powerful individuals a sense of agency, importance, and moral righteousness. If a leader is involved, this plays along with our well-practiced behavior of following the leader that is ingrained in us from childhood onwards.
The Need to Belong: This reason truly digs deep into the human psyche, and our evolutionary drive reflects our need to belong. When we’re faced with joining a group engaging in sadistic acts, it feels highly essential to be in that “in-group” versus the “out-group” that is being targeted. Belonging is a key driver of social choices, and collective sadism takes advantage of that need.
As collective anger becomes easier to mobilize — online and off — understanding how groups drift into cruelty has never been more essential. Awareness opens the door to prevention, resilience, and healthier forms of connection
Protection against Collective Sadism and Collective Sadists
There are three key strategies for staying safe from the pull of group cruelty:
Internal Awareness: Strengthen your psychological immune system. Be aware of moments when you feel your emotions mirroring the crowd, not your true values. A simple pause, taking a breath, and mentally stepping back can interrupt the momentum.
External Boundaries: Put practical safeguards in place. Step away from escalating groups; avoid environments where cruelty or harm is normalized; and surround yourself with people who reinforce kindness and accountability.
Collective Repair: Choose connection over cruelty. Belonging should not come at the expense of someone. Working together with like-minded people can create buffers against the contagion of harm.
Collective sadism is not an unstoppable force, but protection begins with awareness of its presence and heightened self-awareness of moments when your emotions reflect the intensity of a group rather than the authenticity of your values. When you feel you’re at risk of merging with the crowd, ask yourself if that is where you want to be or how you want to be seen by others. Surround yourself with people who share your own values and place boundaries that exclude those who want to drag you into a space that doesn’t feel right or safe. We thrive when our connections are built on respect, care, and compassion. Remind yourself that a single act of courage or compassion can shift the emotional tone of a group in ways far more powerful than anger or force.
Angel Gonzalez-Torres, M., & Fernández-Rivas, A. (2015). Female sexuality, nationalism and large group identity. The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 75(4), 416-437.
Buckels, E. E., Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2013). Behavioral Confirmation of Everyday Sadism. Psychological Science, 24, 2201–2209. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613490749
Krafft-Ebing, R. (1898).Psychopathia Sexualis (ed 10). Stuttgart, Germany: Enke.
Millon, T. (2011). Disorders of personality: Introducing a DSM/ICD spectrum from normal to abnormal (Vol. 208). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.