Pack Mentality: All About Group Bullying

June 26, 2025June 25, 20257 Comments

‘Want to know all about pack mentality and why people conform to groups? And do you want to learn how conformity leads people to victimize others? Here’s all the information you need to know.

We are all social creatures by nature. Isolation from a group is terrifying to people and we feel a sense of relief when we find others who think the same way we

When we’re in a group, we’re compelled to take up the opinions and ideas of that group because it brings us relief and a sense of belonging. It’s a fact that a person will act differently in a group than they will individually. Group behavior is contagious. It grows and gains momentum, and it does so very quickly.

Therefore, in this post, you will learn all about pack mentality, conformity, and how it puts you in danger if you are a victim of bullying.

Once you learn all about this important, even life-saving information. You will be more compelled to take the steps necessarily to keep yourself safe from group bullying.

This post is all about pack mentality and the danger it poses to bullying victims so that you can do what you must do to ensure your own safety.

Pack mentality

If you’re a target of bullying, group behavior has ways of changing your social identity and rewriting your history. Also, it creates more absurd accusations against you.

With time, group behavior gets more and more bizarre until their own hatred blinds them. Moreover, no one knows what really happened or how the hostility even got started. All everyone in the group knows is they want you destroyed and will stop at nothing to make that happen!

In a case of bullying by an entire group, it doesn’t matter whether you’ve done anything to bring the hostility about. And it doesn’t matter whether there is or isn’t anything wrong with you. Whether you’re innocent of any wrongdoing is irrelevant.

In fact, you more than likely did nothing wrong, and there’s nothing wrong with you. Again, that doesn’t matter when you have an entire group of people who detest you.

It doesn’t matter if you are a great person with a heart of gold. Also, it doesn’t matter if you have stunning good looks and a truckload of talent. Why? Because these people could care less about those things.

All that matters is that they hate you, and they’re out to get you!

And that’s a fact! They’re no different than a pack of wild, pit bull dogs.

Therefore, you absolutely must prepare and protect yourself! And your first step to doing this is to understand that bullies who bully in groups never act rationally. When people bully in groups, any logic goes right down the toilet. And emotion always prevails.

When bullies attack, bystanders usually join in. Everyone in the group bands together to humiliate and hurt you. And they have a shared love of seeing you suffer.

In a large group, bullies and bystanders act like fans rooting for their favorite ball team and against the rival team. In a case of bullying, you are that rival team.

Pack Mentality:

A Group of bullies is much more powerful than one bully.

This is much more dangerous. Why? Because the bullies and their loyal sycophants vastly outnumber you. Therefore, they know that it’s safe to show hostility.

People in groups are far more open with abuse. Why? Because their numbers give them more anonymity and protection.

Combine their numbers with the group’s comradery and hostility, and they become even more powerful. And dangerous! It’s the same kind of scenario you see in political fights and persecution.

The enthusiasm of the bullies and supporters is that of an entire nation when its soldiers return home from war. It spreads throughout the group with extreme fervor. It exalts their “heroes” while degrading the enemy.

In sports against the opposing team, in the military against the enemy on the battlefield, or a group of bullies and bystanders against a target, the mentality and feelings of hostility are all the same. It’s the dynamic of “us versus them.”

When bullies turn an entire school, workplace, or organization against you, the entire group shares a great degree of esprit de corps. In other words, members of the group solidify themselves to one another. Moreover, they develop a sense of pride in their group.

At the same time, they distance themselves from you. In this, they overplay the sameness in their clique. Moreover, they exaggerate how different you are from them.

The greater the hatred and hostility, the more they band together and bond with each other. And the more they wish to harm you. And they don’t only want to hurt you, they want to eliminate you.

The more you know about pack mentality, the better prepared you’ll be when the mob comes for you.

Pack Mentality strengthens group cohesion.

In Robert Greene’s book entitled, “The Laws of Human Nature,” I once read that everyone needs a hated enemy and that there’s a positive side to having one… at least for them. I’ve found that with packs of bullies, this is true.

Bullies in groups need an enemy, whether real or imagined. This helps them band together and fight against- an “us-versus-them” object.

Why? Because the presence of an enemy has always served to strengthen group cohesion and unite members. Groups use their hatred of the enemy to tighten the bonds among it’s members.

Moreover, if they can get anyone with power to join in the hatred, all the better. Why? Because they can more easily align together and eliminate you. The person in power can anyone from a teacher to a politician.

Sadly, love doesn’t unite people like hate does. Having shared hatred for someone bands people together much quicker and more effectively.

Bullies get their power from an entourage.

Remember that there’s strength in numbers, and bullies must always have groupies to back them up. Therefore, you will never see a bully alone. Why? Because they can’t handle being by themselves.

Bullies are cowards! Wimps! Wusses! They always attack in groups because they need their wing men to back them up. The pack is where they draw their power.

Without their backup, bullies are just as powerless as you are. A bully is too afraid to attack you one on one because they fear that you would bury them where they fall.

The bigger the group, the more intense the hatred. And the more intense the hatred, the stronger the solidarity and he less likely it is that the group will disband.

Hatred is the glue that binds the members together.

Dog Pack Mentality:

The victim serves several purposes for the group.

If you’re a victim of a large group of bullies, you are the tie that binds them. You unwittingly assure that the group always stays together as one.

Without you, a group of bullies is weak and things get boring real fast. Therefore, it won’t be long before they split up and go their separate ways.

If you suffer bullying from a group, they also need you for shared entertainment. They will use you as a victory trophy to collect and display. Also, they must use you as a guinea pig to test their strength and power on.

You are there for them to show others proof that they really are powerful.

Therefore, you give your bullies many outcomes. And once you’ve served your purpose, your bullies and their supporters will neatly and quietly dispose of you. Then, they’ll select a new victim.

The more you know about pack mentality, the better you can protect yourself against it.

Each member conforms to the rest of the group.

Conformity can be good because we conform to sensible laws and rules in order to ensure a safe and well-run society. Conformity holds us together.

However, when people conform at their own expense or to harm another person, that’s when it’s a bad thing. That’s when conformity becomes toxic conformity.

As mentioned earlier, hate is what fuels pack mentality. But toxic conformity also perpetuates it. Therefore, each member will take turns bullying you because they know it’s expected of them by the rest of the pack.

In fact, some of the members will bully you just to fit in.

As a result, the group rewards each member with inclusion and acceptance. Moreover, those rewards come at your expense.

We call this, “pack mentality” or “herd mentality.” And most people will do anything, right or wrong, to follow the rest of the herd.

Pack Mentality:

What is the difference between conformity and toxic conformity?

Again, conformity can be a good thing because it ensures a peaceful society. Everyone conforms to laws that keep peace and ensure safety.

On the other hand, toxic conformity only brings danger.

Conformity encourages people to speak up when they see wrongdoings and injustices. Therefore, it brings awareness of suffering.

Toxic conformity, on the other hand, forces people to stay silent about atrocities. It only blinds people to any pain others may experience.

Conformity promotes the love care for the individual. Toxic conformity promotes hatred and abuse of the individual.

What happens if a few members of the Bullying pack don’t conform?

Each member expects the others to act the same way they do. They expect them agree with everything they say and do. Right or wrong, they also expect them to keep their mouths shut.

In other words, each person must go along to get along.

So, what happens to them if they don’t bully you like the rest of the pack expects them to? They will be ostracized by the rest of the group. Moreover, the non-conformer will likely become the group’s new target.

They may be subjected to smear campaigns or physical violence. In extreme cases, they may even be murdered. Therefore, each member of the pack knows that they’d better conform or else.

So, they bully you to protect their own hide.

Therefore, when a pack of bullies comes for you, you must know where their hostility comes from. And you must take the appropriate measures to protect yourself.

Pack Mentality:

So, what can you do to protect yourself from a large group of bullies?

The effects of this kind of bullying can be severe. Therefore, it’s important that you take steps to defend yourself.

if you are a victim of bullies with pack mentality, especially if they’re in a large group you can call one of the members out by name and yell, “Stop!” When you call one or more members by name, you are removing their anonymity.

Therefore, you will shock them back to reality and they might just go away.

If that doesn’t work, the best thing you can do is remove yourself from the environment.

For instance, if you suffer this form of bullying in school, you may need to transfer schools. If it’s happening at work, you will need to create an exit plan and begin looking for a new job as soon as possible.

If this kind of bullying is coming from a band of townies in a community, it’s best if you just packed up and moved to another area.

Granted, either of these things may be difficult to do. However, it’s crucial if you have a band of bullies on your trail. And what other choice will you have?

Change, especially positive change, is never easy. However, persecuted people have uprooted and left their home countries for the US in order to attain freedom.

Moreover, they found a better life. So, how much easier would it for you to leave a toxic environment? Move to a place where you can be safe and where you can grow and flourish. Only then will you live in peace!

This post is all about pack mentality so that you can recognize it and take steps to keep yourself safe from harm.

Related posts you’ll enjoy:

1. Effects of Bullying on the Victim: 13 Symptoms of Bullied People

2. How to Defend Yourself from Bullies: 5 Powerful Strategies

Social Contagion Effect: Bullying and Social Contagion

August 6, 2024August 16, 20246 Comments

If, you’ve experienced bullying did you notice that when people first began to bully you, the hatred seemed to spread throughout the environment like a cancer? Unfortunately bullying has a high social contagion effect.

This post is all about the social contagion effect of bullying. We will also discuss the mechanics of it and how it effects the target and everyone else in the bullying environment.

After you learn about the details of this phenomenon, you will better be able to prepare yourself. Also, you will make better and more sound judgements as to how to handle it.

bullying and social contagion effect

First, let’s discuss social contagion effect. According to Google, social contagion effect is an ubiquitous process by which information, such as attitudes, emotions, or behaviors, are rapidly spread throughout a group from one member to others without rational thought and reason.

In other words, a certain emotion or mood can spread quickly through a large crowd, leading them to extreme mindsets. This explains the “pack mentality” where people in large groups act in ways they may later regret.

It is the same with bullying. A few bullies select one target out of the whole class, workplace, or community.

Before you know it, the entire student body, workplace, or neighborhood is acting in evil and brutal ways toward the selected target- doing sadistic things that, under normal circumstances, they would never do.

Intense hate spreads throughout the group like cancer. Bystanders, witnesses, even teachers, school officials, supervisors, and managers will partake in the abuse of the singled-out and defenseless target.

But Why do People Do this?

They do this for several reasons:

1. To keep from being the next target
2. To fit into the group
3. To feel better about themselves and superior to someone (anyone).
4. They believe any lies/rumors about the target
5. To tighten bonds among themselves- using the target as the common enemy to unite against

Social Contagion Effect Works to the Bullies’ Advantage.

Using social contagion effect, charisma, and influence, bullies are able to unite people who think like they do and win over bystanders and members of authority. It’s the reason why entire schools, workplaces, and communities will repetitiously mob a single targeted person. Understand that hate builds on hate.

Moreover, each member of the hating group gets huge psychological benefits from the collective hatred.

The hate helps to mask the insecurities of each member of the hating group. And all haters have insecurities, but not all insecure people are haters.

Bullies know that, outside of a group, they are insignificant, ineffective, and powerless. If you have noticed, and I’m almost certain you have, haters always- always hate in packs. Therefore, they incentivize bystanders and total strangers to join in. Others not only partake in their hatred of the target, but also agree with and condone it.

In their shared hatred of a target, each member gets validation and gains a sense of self-worth. The group also helps them to forget all about their insecurities and shortcomings. Moreover, each person gets the chance to feel superior to the target.

Other benefits bullies get from their groups is a feeling of immense power, anonymity, and decreased accountability.

Hate has a better and much quickly Social Contagion Effect than Love. It is also a Better Group Adhesive.

Realize that hate is like an adhesive that binds each member of the bully group together. When a group of bullies verbally attack their target, it enhances each member’s self-image and the overall status of the group.

However, this is when things tend to become dangerous! It can only get worse, not better for the victim.

Once verbal attacks lose their thrill, the hating group will take it up a notch and begin taunting the target by flipping him off, throwing rocks, destroying their property, and other such activities.

And once that no longer produces the rush of power that they seek, they will then begin shoving, tripping, pushing, etc. Shoving, pushing and tripping will then escalate to punching, kicking, and beating- then worse, worse, and worse still.

Again, understand that hate spreads like a cancer. It’s the root of so many problems today. It’s true that hate hurts the haters more than the hated and that it eats the haters up inside.

However, it can cause a lot of collateral damage and make life dangerous for the victim if the victim fails to learn to recognize it.

An Example of The Social Contagion Effect:

The enthusiasm of the supporters who back the bullies is that of the audience for their favorite ball teams, or an entire nation when its soldiers return home from war. It spreads throughout the group with extreme fervor and exalts their “heroes” while degrading the adversary or enemy.

Also, each member must continue thinking and acting like the rest of the hating group, or risk being excluded from the group. Even worse, the group may target them too and they know it.

Us Versus Them

Another example of the social contagion effect is that the group only grows.

In other words, your bullies and their loyal sycophants vastly outnumber you and their numbers seemingly increase day by day. And, the larger their numbers, the more emboldened they become to show hostility because they believe it’s safer to do so.

This is why people in groups are far more open with abuse because they get a certain degree of cover and anonymity from the group.

Worse even, not only do their numbers grow, the hatred and hostility of each member also grows. Moreover, the more they band together and bond with each other. Therefore, the more hostility they will heap on top of you.

And the hatred and hostility only serve to strengthen their desire to not only isolate you, but to eliminate you altogether.

Therefore, the group’s increasing numbers and their comradery and support for one another, combined with their blatant hostility for you are both powerful and dangerous. It’s the same kind of scenario you also see in political fights and persecution.

Whether in sports against the opposing team, in the military against the enemy on the battlefield, or a group of bullies and bystanders against a target, the mentality and feelings of hostility are all the same- it’s the dynamic of “us versus them.”

When bullies turn an entire school, workplace, or organization against one target, the entire group shares a great degree of esprit de corps. Members of the group solidify themselves to one another and distance themselves from you. In this, they overplay the sameness in their clique and differences from the you.

What Happens When You Confront this Type of thing Head-On?

Sadly, these kinds of dynamics are difficult for you to stand up to and defend against. Therefore, let this serve as a warning.

You will feel angry and you will become tired of all the BS. And you may decide once and for all, to stand up to all of them and speak out, which, you have ever right to do so.

However, when you do muster up the courage to say and/or do anything to assert, defend, or stand up for yourself, you are going against a large group and perceived norm.

And once you dare to push back against any status quo and any large group, you had better prepare yourself for an all-out war!

Remember. In their minds, you are the enemy! Nothing more, nothing less. And the enemy doesn’t deserve the right to live in peace. The enemy deserves nothing but total destruction. Again, this is how they think.

As much as it may suck, when you become a target of bullying, people- bullies, bystanders, and yes, sometimes even those in authority, such as teachers and school officials, upper management in the workplace, or police in a community, consciously or subconsciously expect you to stay a target.

From their perspective, you are to “know your place.” In other words, they expect you to put your head down and take the abuse. Moreover, they want you to just accept your position in life and not to expect things to get better.

And if you even attempt to grow a spine, they will do everything in their power to break it.

So, What Can You Do about social contagion effect?

I hate to say it. But sometimes, the best recourse is just to find a way to escape the environment. Understand that you’re not running away nor are you being cowardly.

You are being wise. You’re doing what you must do to take care of yourself. Moreover, you are seeing reality for what it is.

And the reality is that some power dynamics are too great for one person to stand against. Therefore, rather than stay and continue to push against a brick wall that just won’t budge, you must get out of that hostile environment and allowing yourself to move on to a safer one.

Therefore, again, there’s nothing wrong with this and it doesn’t mean that you’re a coward.

Know When It’s Time to Move On.

“Oh, but they’ll think I’m a coward! So, I have to stay and fight.”

SCREW them! What do you care what they think after you’ve left? Let them think what they will. What are you going to do? Stay and continue wasting your time fighting something you can’t change or win? Life’s too short for that.

Part of taking care of yourself and being brave is to know when to cut your losses and move on to greener pastures.

In other words, if you’re an object of this kind of hatred, the best you can do is to make yourself a priority.

How you do this is to take steps to protect yourself. There are times when that means leaving situations that are too toxic to stay in and too powerful to fight. The trick is to pick your battles and decide when you should fight and when you should walk away from toxic people.

Moreover, focus on the people you love and who love you. Stay away from abusive people and keep yourself around people who uplift you. Move to and stay in a warm and loving environment if possible. You owe it to yourself.

This post was all about the social Contagion effect to better prepare you for situations of group bullying.

Related posts you’ll enjoy:

1. Bully Proof: 7 Do’s and Don’ts for Victims of Bullying

2. Setting Boundaries: 3 Powerful Practices to Hold Your Ground

3. You Don’t Have to Explain Yourself: 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t

4. Defending Yourself from Bullies: 11 Best Defenses

5. Signs of Toxic People: 5 Tell-Tale Indicators