# Herd mentality
## MicroSim spec
- **Recommended sim type:** agent-based
- **Microsimmability score:** 78/100
- **Layout:** drawing region (canvas) on top; control region (sliders/buttons) below.
### Parameters (tunable controls)
- `Crowd size`
- `Conformity pressure`
- `Independent fraction`
### What animates
Agents adopt the majority view and a cascade tips the crowd as conformity pressure rises.
### Learning objective
Show how conformity pressure drives herd behavior.
## Links (Wikipedia order)
<!-- injected from _registry/childlinks/Herd_mentality.json (2026-07-30T02:09:12Z) -->
`Academic_freedom` · `Alternative_media` · `Amos_Tversky` · `Anarchism` · `Anarchism_and_issues_related_to_love_and_sex` · `Anonymity` · `Anti-authoritarianism` · `Anti-social_behaviour` · `Anticonformity_(psychology)` · `Argumentum_ad_populum` · `Artistic_freedom` · `Asch_conformity_experiments` · `Authoritarian_leadership_style` · `Authoritarian_personality` · `Authoritarianism` · `Bandwagon_effect` · `Behavioral_addiction` · `Behavioral_contagion` · `Blacklisting` · `Brainwashing` · `Breaching_experiment` · `Cancel_culture` · `Censorship` · `Charles_Darwin` · `Civil_death` · `Civil_disobedience` · `Closure_(sociology)` · [[Collective_intelligence]] · `Communal_reinforcement` · `Compliance_(psychology)` · `Conformity` · `Consensus_reality` · `Control_freak` · `Copycat_suicide` · `Cosmopolitanism` · `Counterculture` · `Countersignaling` · `Creeping_normality` · `Crime_contagion_model` · `Crowd_abuse` · `Crowd_psychology` · `Culture_jamming` · `Culture_shock` · `Damnatio_memoriae` · `Daniel_Kahneman` · `Defection` · `Deindividuation` · `Deplatforming` · `Deviance_(sociology)` · `Devil's_advocate` · `Dissent` · `Dissenter` · `Dissident` · `Dogma` · `Eccentricity_(behavior)` · `Echo_chamber_(media)` · `Eclecticism` · `Economic_bubble` · `Emotional_contagion` · `Enemy_of_the_people` · `Enemy_of_the_state` · `Erik_von_Kuehnelt-Leddihn` · `Everett_Dean_Martin` · `Exile` · `False_consensus_effect` · `Fear_of_missing_out` · `Folie_à_deux` · `Freedom_of_information` · `Freedom_of_speech` · `Freedom_of_the_press` · `Freedom_of_thought` · `Friedrich_Nietzsche` · `Gabriel_Tarde` · `George_Katona` · `Greed_and_fear` · `Group_Psychology_and_the_Analysis_of_the_Ego` · `Groupthink` · `Gustave_Le_Bon` · `Harmonisation_of_law` · `Hazing` · `Hebrew_University_of_Jerusalem` · `Herd_Mentality_(party_game)` · `Herd_behavior` · `Hermit` · `Homo_sacer` · `Hysterical_contagion` · `Identification_(psychology)` · `Idiosyncrasy` · `Individualism` · `Indoctrination` · `Instincts_of_the_Herd_in_Peace_and_War` · `Insubordination` · `Internalization_(sociology)` · `Internet_freedom` · `Invented_tradition` · `James_Surowiecki` · `John_Maynard_Keynes` · `José_Ortega_y_Gasset` · `Left-wing_nationalism` · `Malcolm_Gladwell` · `Mass_psychogenic_illness` · `Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology` · `Memory_conformity` · `Mere-exposure_effect` · `Milgram_experiment` · `Milieu_control` · `Mobbing` · `National_conservatism` · `Nationalism` · `Natural_selection` · `New_York_University` · `Normalization_(sociology)` · `Normalization_of_deviance` · `Normative_social_influence` · `Obedience` · `Obsessive–compulsive_personality_disorder` · `Operant_conditioning` · `Ostracism` · `Outcast_(person)` · `Outlaw` · `Passing_(sociology)` · `Patriotism` · `Peer_pressure` · `Persona_non_grata` · `Pluralistic_ignorance` · `Political_dissent` · `Preference_falsification` · `Propaganda` · `Proscription` · `Psychosocial` · `Public_enemy` · `Pueblo_clown` · `Purity_spiral` · `Rally_'round_the_flag_effect` · `Rebellion` · `Red_team` · `Relationship_anarchy` · `Right-wing_authoritarianism` · `Right_to_personal_identity` · `Satire` · `Scapegoating` · `Self-segregation` · `Shock_value` · `Shunning` · `Sigmund_Freud` · `Social_construction_of_gender` · `Social_contagion` · `Social_influence` · `Social_integration` · `Social_organization` · `Social_proof` · `Social_reality` · `Socialization` · `Solomon_Asch` · `Spiral_of_silence` · `Stanford_prison_experiment` · `Stock_market_crash` · `Swarthmore_College` · `Søren_Kierkegaard` · `Teasing` · `The_New_Yorker` · `The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class` · `The_Tipping_Point` · `The_Wisdom_of_Crowds` · `Thorstein_Veblen` · `Totalitarianism` · `Toxic_positivity` · `Tyranny_of_the_majority` · `Untouchability` · `Vernon_L._Smith` · `Vogelfrei` · [[Wayback_Machine]] · `Wilfred_Trotter` · `Wisdom_of_the_crowd` · `Émigré`
> p5.js MicroSim stub · part of Systems Thinking · [Wikipedia source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_mentality)
> Relation: subfield of systems thinking.
## Concept summary
Herd mentality is the tendency for people's behavior or beliefs to conform to those of the group they belong to. The concept of herd mentality has been studied and analyzed from different perspectives, including biology, psychology, and sociology.
## Build checklist
- [ ] Claim it: set `status: in-progress` + `lease` + `leased_at`
- [ ] Write the child page explaining the concept (tie it back to systems thinking)
- [ ] Finalize parameter ranges and defaults
- [ ] Implement the p5.js sketch (drawing + control regions)
- [ ] Add caption + the learning objective on the page
- [ ] Set `status: done`
## p5.js sketch
```javascript
// MicroSim: Herd mentality
let controls = {};
function setup() {
// createCanvas(...); create sliders for the parameters above.
}
function draw() {
// background(...); read controls; render agent-based; respond live.
}
```
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Back to Systems Thinking · Wikipedia: [Herd mentality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_mentality)
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<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:START -->
## Semiotic profile
> *The semiotic universals this article invokes, machine-derived from the crossref — **unverified** (born so). Populated 2026-07-06 for the Systems room.*
**Universals (4):** 🟡 system (10) · 🟡 science (5) · 🟢 pressure (3) · 🟢 noise (1)
**Enter by sign:** Systems Semiotic Gateway · Alphabetum · Icon Registry · ← Systems Portal
<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:END -->
## Wikipedia : Wikitube
**Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_mentality) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Herd_mentality)
## Previous hub tags
Tree parents: [[Complex_system]] · [[Cybernetics]] · [[Emergence]] · [[Feedback]] · [[Self-organization]] · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]].
Legacy hubs: none.
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*Sources: 2 legacy notes. Minted wave 1, 2026-07-30 (v1.6 order).*