Emergencies are frequently shown in the media accompanied either by sensationalist stories of heroism, people fleeing, or something in between. However, the reasons for the behaviour in these accounts are not made clear.
This research area brings together psychologists, first responders, event safety professionals, computer modellers, fire engineers, and UK government to understand how and why people respond in emergencies. Instead of looking at crowd behaviour from the outside and inferring reasons for behaviour, this research area focuses on using experiments and interviews to understand why responses occur in an emergency from the perspective of the people who were in the event. By taking this approach, we can learn more about psychological processes guiding behaviour such as how group dynamics impact who is looked to for information about what is happening and how to respond, and how interactions between first responders and citizens impact emergency response.
Behaviour in emergencies
The work in this area was initially funded by DSTL for the project ‘Improving crowd resilience – using social identity to enhance threat detection and response to threats’. It is currently being funded by ESRC SGSSS for Luna Dabinovic’s PhD project, ‘Incorporating decision-making in environmental emergencies into behavioural computational models for crisis planning’, the Japanese Government Student Exchange Support Programme for Sayaka Hinata’s PhD project examining the impact of first responder communication approaches on citizen response in emergencies, and the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship for the project ‘Simulating the impact of first responder communication strategies on citizen adherence in emergencies’. Anne is also a co-investigator on the ESRC project ‘Perceived threats and 'stampedes': a relational model of collective fear responses’, and UK DLUHC project ‘Means of Escape in Residential Buildings’ in collaboration with OFR Consultants and Movement Strategies.
Our latest outputs:
Hinata, S., Templeton, A., Rohde, H. (2024). Three categories of communicating with the public in emergencies: A systematic review of communication approaches in emergency responses. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 111, e104719. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2024.104719
Templeton, A., Telga, M., Ronchi, E., Neville, F., Reicher, S., & Drury, J. (2024). Understanding crowd responses to perceived hostile threats: A multidisciplinary approach. Collective Dynamics. http://dx.doi.org/10.17815/CD.2024.157
Cocking, C., & Templeton, A. (2024). Collective Responses to Terrorist Attacks. In R. Williams, V. Kemp, K. Porter, T. Healing & J. Drury (Eds.), Major incidents, pandemics and mental health (pp.154-159). Cambridge University Press. https://osf.io/phvd6