Men walking in unison with other men feel more formidable - i.e. cops marching on protestors

[Liberal_in_LA]

In sync and in control?
UCLA social scientists find that marching in unison makes men feel more formidable

In the aftermath of the Aug. 9 shooting of an 18-year-old African American man by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, much of the nation’s attention has been focused on how law enforcement’s use of military gear might have inflamed tensions.

But what if the simple act of marching in unison — as riot police routinely do — increases the likelihood that law enforcement will use excessive force in policing protests?

That’s the suggestion of a new study by a pair of UCLA social scientists.

“We have found that when men are walking in step with other men, they think that a potential foe is smaller and less physically formidable and less intimidating than when they’re just walking in no particularly coordinated manner with other men,” said lead author Daniel Fessler, a professor of anthropology in the UCLA College. “That calculation appears to make men who march with other men feel less vulnerable and more powerful and their potential foe more easily vanquished. We theorize that it also makes them more likely to use violence than they otherwise would be.”

Study co-author Colin Holbrook said media coverage of Ferguson frequently showed police slowly advancing in lockstep on protesters who were standing with their hands up. “Not only can it be quite intimidating to see a group marching in unison, but we’ve also found — and past research supports — that the mere act of moving in sync also makes those in formation feel more formidable and therefore potentially more likely to be aggressive.”

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/in-sync-and-in-control

[Rex]

1. No way? I wonder where they got that idea from?

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. lol. It's not a fact until PhD types study it.

[Scootaloo]

2. Duh?

While I realize the parameters of the study, this is a simple fact for all genders - by becoming part of a "group" the person defers part of their restraint to the dictates of the group overall - basically, the root of peer pressure and mob mentality. And the more the group realizes its own power, the less incentive there is to restrain that power.

So when you get a large group of people that are very assured of their own collective power, you can get some amazing - or alternastely, horrifying - results.

[Rozlee]

4. "Sure, We can take that guy."

I'm a five foot nothing woman who weighed 92 pounds in the Army, but I felt that I was ten feet tall and bullet proof when I was marching in formation with my unit holding my M-4. As long as I was a little further toward the middle. My war face: