In the late nineteenth century, as Europe was living through intense social, political and technological change, the French physician and anthropologist Gustave Le Bon published one of the most influential and controversial works of modern thought: «The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind» (1895) (La psychologie des foules in the original French). Through this text, Le Bon established the foundations of a new field of study: collective psychology.
His central thesis was as provocative as it was clear: the behaviour of an individual within a crowd differs radically from how that same person acts alone. In a crowd, according to Le Bon, the individual loses their capacity for critical judgement, is swept along by primary emotions and acts in a contagious, imitative and impulsive manner.
«What moves crowds is not reason, but images»
Gustave Le Bon
Crowd vs Mass: are they the same?
Although many translations into Spanish and English have popularised the term «mass» to refer to Le Bon’s ideas, it is important to note that in the original French text — La psychologie des foules (1895) — the author systematically uses the word «foule», which corresponds more precisely to «crowd». He never develops a theory properly speaking about the masse as a conceptual entity. The central concept of his work is the «psychological crowd» (foule psychologique), understood as a set of individuals who, when gathered under certain conditions, undergo an emotional and rational transformation that distances them from their individual behaviour.
The term «mass», as we understand it today in many social and psychological theories, was developed and deepened by later authors who drew on (and in some cases reinterpreted or critiqued) the foundations laid by Le Bon:
Theodor Adorno and the thinkers of the Frankfurt School took up the concept of «mass» to critique the effects of the culture industry and the mechanisms of ideological domination in modern societies.
Sigmund Freud, in Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (1921), adopts the term masse directly and elaborates a psychoanalytic theory of mass behaviour, focused on the mechanisms of identification with the leader and the dissolution of the individual ego.
Carl Gustav Jung, without systematically using the term «mass», reflected on the emergence of the collective unconscious in group contexts, warning of the risk of the individual being absorbed by collective psychic forces in times of agitation.
Elias Canetti, in Crowds and Power (1960), produced a monumental work on the phenomenon of the crowd, distinguishing between different types (closed, open, survival, etc.) and exploring its transformative and destructive power from an anthropological perspective.
Why should you read Le Bon today?
Today, in an era dominated by social media and instant communication, Le Bon’s observations on collective influence and suggestion remain highly relevant. Understanding his theories can offer insights into how public opinion is formed and how collective emotions can be directed or manipulated.
Despite modern criticisms, Gustave Le Bon remains essential reading. Not so much for the literal accuracy of his claims, but because he was ahead of his time in focusing on how collective emotions can be managed, stimulated or manipulated. His work remains a fundamental tool for those working in communication, politics, the design of collective experiences or crowd management.
«He who can influence the imagination of a crowd is more powerful than he who holds truth or justice in his hands»
Gustave Le Bon
Le Bon does not offer closed answers, but he does raise questions that today, in a world of social media, virality and polarisation, are more necessary than ever:
What happens when many people feel the same thing at the same time?
How is leadership constructed in a crowd situation?
Can a collective experience be designed to be safe and emotionally positive?
Comparative table: Crowd vs Mass | Foule vs Masse in Le Bon
| Term | Original quote (French) | English translation | Use in Le Bon | Didactic interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foule | « Une foule est toujours intellectuellement inférieure à l’homme isolé, mais, du point de vue des sentiments et des actes qu’elle provoque, elle peut être meilleure ou pire que lui. » (Chap. I) | «A crowd is always intellectually inferior to the isolated individual, but from the point of view of the feelings and acts it provokes, it can be better or worse than him.» | Central | Key concept in the work. Defines the crowd as an autonomous psychological entity. |
| Foule | « Une foule psychologique est un être provisoire composé d’éléments hétérogènes, qui pour un instant sont fondus, comme les cellules d’un organisme vivant forment un être nouveau. » (Chap. I) | «A psychological crowd is a provisional being composed of heterogeneous elements which for a moment are fused together, as the cells of a living body form a new being.» | Theoretical core | The «foule psychologique» implies transformation: it is more than a sum of individuals. |
| Masse | « Ces sentiments, bons ou mauvais, ne deviennent puissants que lorsqu’ils se sont transformés en un sentiment commun dans une masse compacte d’hommes. » (Chap. II) | «These feelings, good or bad, only become powerful when transformed into a common feeling in a compact mass of men.» | Metaphorical / occasional | «Masse» here refers to the physical density of the group, not a stable theoretical category. |
| Masse | « L’homme plongé depuis de longues années dans une masse confuse d’impressions reste inapte à les classer et les analyser. » (Chap. III) | «The man immersed for many years in a confused mass of impressions remains unable to classify and analyse them.» | Figurative / sensory | Refers to a «mass» of perceptions or ideas: not a collective subject. |
| Foule | Book title: «La Psychologie des Foules» | The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind | Essential | The title defines the intention of the work: the psychological phenomenon of the foule, not the masse. |
Critiques and legacies: from Le Bon to Freud and Jung
Le Bon’s influence is undeniable. Since the twentieth century, it has shaped sociology, marketing, politics, communication and, of course, crowd management. His vision has been adopted, adapted and also questioned. Authors such as John Drury, from modern social psychology, challenge the idea that crowds necessarily lose their capacity for judgement or act chaotically. Today, there is a growing recognition that human groups can act with shared logic, solidarity and coordination. But beyond this academic debate, Le Bon’s work was profoundly influential for thinkers who redefined our understanding of the collective unconscious.
Among them, Sigmund Freud stands out, having explicitly read and cited Le Bon in his work «Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego» (1921). Freud acknowledged that Le Bon had been correct in observing how individual personality is transformed in the presence of a crowd. Although he differed in his explanations, he took Le Bon’s concepts as a basis for exploring the role of the leader, group identification and the loss of individual moral conscience within the group.
From the perspective of analytical psychology, Carl Gustav Jung offered another, deeper reading. While he did not dedicate specific texts to crowds, he did reflect on the collective unconscious, a concept that finds direct echoes in Le Bon’s sensibility. For Jung, the archetypes shared by humanity emerge in certain collective moments: rituals, social movements, mass hysteria or uprisings. Although he does not always cite him directly, his vision of group and symbolic behaviour takes up Le Bon’s central concern: what happens to individual consciousness when it merges into something larger?
Thus, beyond modern criticisms, Le Bon should be read as the pioneer who sowed many of the questions later developed by authors such as Freud and Jung from psychoanalysis, or Canetti from cultural anthropology. Critics also note that Le Bon’s theories have been used to justify the manipulation of crowds and authoritarian policies.
«The crowd is always dominated by the unconscious; in it, archetypal contents awaken that sleep in the depths of the individual soul»
Carl G. Jung
A body of thought that continues to challenge us
Are crowds irrational, or amplified reflections of the collective unconscious? Is suggestion a dangerous mechanism or a communicative tool? The answers remain open, but the questions were posed with boldness by Le Bon. Reading him today does not mean accepting his ideas uncritically, but recognising his place as a cornerstone for anyone working with audiences, communication, leadership or shared experiences.
See also
- About Carlos Moreno Clemente
- Teaching, keynotes and specialist training
- Was Gustave Le Bon right about collective panic? (Series: Le Bon and crowd psychology)
- Crowd management at events
Leer este artículo en español: Gustave Le Bon y la psicología de las multitudes
Carlos Moreno Clemente | Comunicación, Eventos y Seguridad 
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