New preprint (with @profjohndrury.bsky.social ) on prefigurative politics in Chile’s 2019 social explosion, based on interviews with participants in demonstrations and cabildos🧵: 

Enacting desired change in the present: Explaining prefigurative collective action in Chile’s 2019 social explosion

Contemporary mobilisations increasingly confront existing power structures while experimenting with alternative social relations – a dynamic often discussed as prefigurative politics. Yet social psychological research on collective action has prioritised explaining why people participate, paying l...

osf.io

Understanding the “new” disruptive behavior at live music events: Group normative (mis)alignment and collective self-regulation Now published in ASAP journal. Please share. spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Interested in the psychology of disruptive behaviour at music events? Well have a read of this. Highlights include me, @lewisdoyle.bsky.social & @sanjeedah.bsky.social throwing ourselves around in mosh pits for science (plus in-depth interviews & a big old survey). dx.doi.org/10.1111/asap...

Public worry about Palestine Action ban’s impact on UK democracy, new survey finds Evidence that the ban affects: - willingness to protest - trust in government - perception of divisions in UK More here: drive.google.com/drive/folder... Full report: drive.google.com/drive/folder...

Struggling to find peer reviewed evidence in support of spending all of your money on going to festivals and gigs? Let us help... doi.org/10.1002/casp... w/ @profjohndrury.bsky.social @hannaeldarwish.bsky.social Danielle Evans, Fiona Green

Our survey of over 2000 attendees, from both UK and USA, and across a wide variety of genres and events (both gigs and festivals) found this:

Disruptive crowd behaviour back in the news again! This time it's journalists saying it's a thing. But crowd safety professionals say 'The overwhelming majority of events take place safely & securely, with no disruption, but those stories rarely make the news.” www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

Swearing, booing and spitting: is crowd behaviour out of control?

There was dismay after Rory McIlroy’s wife was hit by a beer at the Ryder Cup. But have crowds always been badly behaved, or is antisocial behaviour getting worse?

theguardian.com

Coming soon to a Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology near you...

John Drury@profjohndrury.bsky.social · 11mo ago

'Social cure and savouring: Attending live music events is associated with wellbeing and behaviour changes' From @harrymlewis.bsky.social @hannaeldarwish.bsky.social & team A revised version of this paper now accepted for publication! osf.io/preprints/ps...

Barely an hour ago, Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif warned us all: “If this madness doesn’t end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.” Israel just killed him.

>40 students currently trapped in Gaza with full scholarships to UK Universities are asking for a safe route to come and study Petition for UK academics asking govt to facilitate a biometric visa deferral and open a route of safe passage Sign & share ⏬️ docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Open letter from UK university staff: Request for biometric deferral and safe evacuation of incoming Palestinian students and scholars from Gaza to UK Universities

More than 40 students currently trapped in Gaza with full scholarships to UK Universities are asking for a safe route to come and study. We, the academic community hoping to welcome these scholars, ca...

docs.google.com

New from Drury & Vestergren. The chapter synthesises decades of research on how participation in collective action transforms people, challenges the field’s focus on predictors, and calls for methods to trace these transformations. It also highlights prefiguration as a key future research direction.

John Drury@profjohndrury.bsky.social · last yr.

'Reading historical examples of person change in collective action, one is struck by the profound sense of revelation, & the significant downstream consequences, in terms of future activities, relationships, &life choices.' With @swedishprotests.bsky.social www.researchgate.net/publication/...

New wall art at @sussex.ac.uk Psychology is from our crowd safety & experience project, with @harrymlewis.bsky.social @sanjeedah.bsky.social @lewisdoyle.bsky.social

'Understanding and Enhancing Felt Safety at Live Music Events through Group Psychology' by @harrymlewis.bsky.social Now on Blogspot drury-sussex-the-crowd.blogspot.com/2025/05/unde...

In case you missed them, we - myself, @profjohndrury.bsky.social and team - have two new preprints and a blog post exploring the psychology of crowds at gigs/festivals: Disruption: osf.io/preprints/ps... Wellbeing: osf.io/preprints/ps... Safety: tinyurl.com/4kcs7x2p All feedback very welcome!

New pre-print alert....

John Drury@profjohndrury.bsky.social · last yr.

'Social cure and savouring: Attending live music events is associated with wellbeing and behaviour changes' osf.io/preprints/ps... New from @harrymlewis.bsky.social @hannaeldarwish.bsky.social & team

New blogpost, led by @harrymlewis.bsky.social : Understanding and Enhancing Felt Safety at Live Music Events through Group Psychology blogs.sussex.ac.uk/crowdsidenti...

New blogpost looking at the psychology of felt safety at live music events: tinyurl.com/4kcs7x2p. Draws on interview, ethnographic and survey data. With @profjohndrury.bsky.social @hannaeldarwish.bsky.social Danielle Evans, Fiona Green, @sanjeedah.bsky.social and @lewisdoyle.bsky.social.

Our pre-print is now available on our research into experiences of disruptive behaviour at live music events. Available here: osf.io/preprints/ps... @profjohndrury.bsky.social @lewisdoyle.bsky.social @sanjeedah.bsky.social @freyamills.bsky.social Hanna Eldarwish, Danielle Evans, Fi Green & Jane Wen

'Understanding the "new" disruptive behaviour at live music events: The role of group norms' @harrymlewis.bsky.social We used multiple methodologies to understand audiences' experiences of disruptive behaviour, underlying processes, and possible solutions. Please share. osf.io/preprints/ps...

At this month's Crowds & Identities @crowdsidentities.bsky.social seminar, expertly convened by @freyamills.bsky.social, Rhea Haddad presents her new work with @drannetempleton.bsky.social on how collective sound-making at live sports events expressed shared identity.

'Why crowd behaviour matters - for psychology and society' Recording of my Professorial Lecture. Please share. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pBZ...

Why crowd behaviour matters - for psychology and society

YouTube video by Crowds & Identities

youtube.com

Does participating in collective action moralize one's attitudes over time, and if so, how? Happy to share that our paper is now out in JPSP! With Martijn van Zomeren, Roberto González, Ernestine Gordijn, Pia Carozzi, Michal Reifen Tagar, Belén Álvarez, Cristián Frigolett, and Eran Halperin. (1/9)

Cause to deactivate that X account that's hanging around unused: www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Crowds & Identities early birthday celebration meal, with @sanjeedah.bsky.social @evangelospsych.bsky.social @harrymlewis.bsky.social @alleal.bsky.social

Bleak reading...

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · 2y ago

The number of UK universities now actively making redundancies has risen to 85. That number will be will over 100 by spring. I'm afraid this is happening faster, and will be worse, than even I thought. Solidarity and thoughts with and to all affected. qmucu.org/qmul-transfo...

Come to my professorial talk -- Why crowd behaviour matters Tuesday 26th November, 5pm at Sussex University onlineshop.sussex.ac.uk/product-cata...

Some of the great social psychology posters at the Sussex Psychology PhD poster exhibition today