The Dark Side of Group Behavior: Zombie Apocalypse Lessons
通过分析历史事件、社会认同理论、极端情境研究及电视剧《行尸走肉》中的叙事，探讨末日情境下幸存者群体的行为，发现群体构成和末日环境特性会催生暴力阴暗面，并提出用虚构叙事研究极端情境的方法。
How will groups of survivors behave in a doomsday scenario? Will there be competition for scarce resources? Will they collaborate in reconstruction? While we cannot research these questions directly, we can find clues in four places. First, there are historical examples of apocalyptic events. Second, social identity theory offers explanations of group behavior. Third, there have been studies undertaken of group dynamics in extreme contexts. We discuss the limitations of these three sources, before turning a fourth—a fictional account—in search of ideas. Adopting a narrative theoretical lens, we consider “the theory on offer” in the television series The Walking Dead, which portrays a zombie apocalypse. We find that group behavior is shaped by the nature of survivor group composition, and by the properties of the doomsday context that they face. We demonstrate the potential for the emergence of a dark, violent side of group behavior. We illustrate a methodological solution to the problem of researching extreme contexts using “speculative fiction.” And, by exploiting the zombie movie genre, we address the “failure of imagination” that can increase society’s vulnerability to unforeseen events. Our analysis has implications for organization theory as well as for policy and practice in doomsday scenarios.