Crowd events are one of our favourite things to research. A main focus of this research is examining how group processes can facilitate or hinder safe behaviour through factors such as social norms, perceived risk, expectations of support, and conceptions of what it means to be part of particular crowds.

This research area brings together psychologists, event safety practitioners from industry, and government legislative bodies for event safety planning to understand the role of group processes in behaviour at large events. We triangulate multiple methods to understand reasons for behaviour such as using surveys, interviews and observational research. By using these methods with event attendees and organisers, we can better understand the psychological processes behind how and why behaviour occurs and how to can evolve throughout events.

Our research has previously been funded by the SGSA for the project ‘Returning to major sports events during COVID-19’, and DCMS for the project ‘Factors associated with attendee adherence to COVID-19 guidance during the 2021 DCMS Events Research Programme’. The Saudi Arabia Cultural Bureau are currently finding Waleed Alhajri’s PhD project ‘The Role of Shared Social Identity and Social Norms in Risk-Taking at Mass Gatherings’. We have also secured funding for an ESRC SGSSS Collaborative studentship together with SGSA for the PhD project, ‘Understanding the drivers of safety at major sporting events’.