Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (German: Massenpsychologie und Ich-Analyse) is a work of Sigmund Freud from the year 1921.
They pursue no direct sexual goal, but "do not therefore work less.
Each individual in the mass acts on impulses of love that are diverted from their original objectives.
Freud refers back to his theory of instincts and believes that masses are held together by libidinal bonds. "The masses of the former type, so to speak, ride on the latter, like the short but high waves on the long swell of the sea." However, the same basic mental processes operate in both kinds of masses.
The other kind consists of more permanent and enduring masses, which are highly organized, such as the Church or the military.
One is the short-lived kind, characterized by a rapidly transient interest, such as trends.
It is controlled almost exclusively by the unconscious." 2] Freud distinguishes between two types of masses.
This is accompanied, however, by a loss of conscious personality and a tendency of the individual to be infected by any emotion within the mass, and to amplify the emotion, in turn, by "mutual induction." Overall, the mass is "impulsive, changeable, and irritable.
These feelings of power and security allow the individual not only to act as part of the mass, but also to feel safety in numbers.
Like Le Bon, Freud says that as part of the mass, the individual acquires a sense of infinite power which allows him to act on impulses that he would otherwise have to curb as an isolated individual.
A mass, according to Freud, is a "temporary entity, consisting of heterogeneous elements that have joined together for a moment." 1] He refers heavily to the writings of sociologist and psychologist Gustave Le Bon (1841-1931), summarizing his work at the beginning of the book in the chapter Le Bons Schilderung der Massenseele ("Le Bon\'s description of the Group mind").
In this monograph, Freud describes psychological mechanisms at work within mass movements.
Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (German: Massenpsychologie und Ich-Analyse) is a work of Sigmund Freud from the year 1921
