Editorial for the Special Issue on The Psychology of Collectives.

Mirta Galesic

Abstract: Humans live in collectives, and our beliefs, emotions, decisions, and behaviors depend on and shape those of others around us. To understand collectives and tackle the current societal challenges from group radicalization and polarization to the spread of misinformation and group violence, psychologists must go beyond the traditional focus on the individual mind. This is even more pressing given the pace of the digital transformation of our society, as new information and communication technologies reshape how we interact, create new networked structures of humans and machines, and provide a digital breeding ground for new kinds of collective behavior.