HUMAN AND GROUP BEHAVIOR IN THE EMERGENCY PERIOD OF DISASTERS: NOW AND IN THE FUTURE

This paper summarizes what social science research has established about human and group behavior in the emergency time period of disasters. First, we discuss the behavior of human beings at the height of a disaster. This is followed by a similar discussion of how groups react during the same time period. We conclude by very briefly looking at whether the behaviors that have been observed in the last half century are likely to be the same in future decades.