{
  "id": "herd-mentality.collective",
  "term": "herd mentality",
  "sense": "collective",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 15,
  "domain": "social",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "A model in each individual that copies the state of others, which closes the window where choices could differ, because no one maintains a separate reason to act.",
  "folk_gloss": "When people act the same way without thinking, just because others are doing it.",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "model.representation",
      "parameter.condition",
      "window.range",
      "maintenance.upkeep",
      "interaction.process"
    ],
    "interaction": "process",
    "novel_properties": [
      "model",
      "window",
      "maintenance",
      "interaction",
      "parameter"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "herd mentality"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — collective outcome nobody chose"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-herd-mentality.collective"
}