Following the crowd or avoiding it? Empirical investigation of imitative behaviour in emergency escape of human crowds

Abstract

When humans escape from a threat in a crowded space, how do they choose the best wayfinding strategy for their survival? This is a decision context in which individuals are heavily exposed to the actions of others; it is thus plausible to assume that they are influenced by the social interactions. It has been suggested by some influential theoretical studies that in emergency escape situations, ‘people show a tendency towards mass behaviour, that is, to do what other people do’ (Helbing, D., Farkas, I., Vicsek, T., 2000. Simulating dynamical features of escape panic. Nature, 407, 487–490, page 487). However, the validity of this assumption has not come under scrutiny, nor has the role of con..