A major debate continues to fire up academics and media supporters on either side of the transgender issue. Those supporting life-altering drugs and surgeries for minors claim “social contagion” is not to blame for a wave of trans-identifying teenagers, while those who oppose such treatments insist that it is to blame.
Social contagion is not a new concept. It dates back to Plato and the term “behavioral contagion” was introduced by Gustave Le Bon in 1895. Social contagion itself was introduced by Herbert Blumer in 1939. While the concept is known, a clear and precise definition isn’t, though the most accepted premise is that social contagion happens when ideas, emotions, or behaviors are transmitted from one person to another without any direct intent to influence. Some minor examples include yawning and the panic that would break out if someone yelled “fire” in a crowded room.
Multiple studies have shown that children and teenagers do start to identify as transgender once their peers do. The study often pointed to as “debunking” this phenomenon insisted a decrease in teens identifying as trans in certain states amounted to proof the theory was wrong, even though, as The Daily Wire reported, a decrease in smallpox infections doesn’t mean it isn’t contagious.
That being said, here are some historical examples of social contagion illustrating how easy it is for people to become “infected.”
‘The Sorrows Of Young Werther’ Suicides
In 1774, German author Johann Wolfgang Goethe published a novel called “The Sorrows of Young Werther,” written in the form of letters from the titular character to his friend about a woman he loved who married another man. In the end, Werther commits suicide to end the love triangle, unable to murder or harm his love or her husband.
After the book was published and reprinted, it led to men of the time dressing as Werther and committing suicide in a similar manner – at least, that’s the accepted rumor. Rüdiger Safranski, a biographer of Goethe, has suggested what has become known as the Werther Effect to be only a rumor. Still, the novel and the Werther clothing style were banned in Leipzig, Germany. The novel was also banned in Denmark and Italy.
The Dancing Plagues Of The 14th And 16th Centuries
Centuries ago, in 1374, groups up into the thousands broke out into uncontrollable dance fits. Little is written about the 14th Century plague known as St. Vitus’ Dance, according to ABC News, but what we do know is that the plague spread from Germany to Madagascar, and involved people dancing until they reportedly collapsed from exhaustion or died, though assertions people danced until they died has been disputed. Some had heart attacks or broken bones. The outbreaks lasted for days, but sometimes weeks and months.
Another dancing plague struck the people of what is now modern-day France between July and September in 1518.
It is unclear if anything other than social contagion caused the fits of dancing, though some believe food poisoning such as ergot poisoning (the same issue that affected a town in France and the women accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts).
Recovered Memories
Recovered memory therapy is a pseudoscientific practice that was used primarily in the 1980s and ’90s purportedly to uncover repressed memories of abuse that had been allegedly locked away in a person’s subconscious. The most prominent use of this therapy technique was in conjunction with the ‘Satanic Panic,’ where young children began making wildly unrealistic allegations of sexual abuse as well as human and animal sacrifice perpetrated by daycare officials. Many people actually went to jail based on the false allegations, and prosecutors ignored children’s claims that they were fed to sharks or taken into space while accepting as fact their claims about horrific abuse.
Allegations typically began when a parent – often with mental health issues – made an allegation that their child had been sexually abused. Child psychiatrists would then talk to the child – using leading questions and imploring them to come forward as other children had in order to be considered good – to get more and more fanciful allegations.
The craze swept the nation, with children on the West and East coasts making elaborate claims along with their classmates after speaking to unscrupulous psychiatrists.
Smaller Examples
It is not always a major historical moment that serves as an example of social contagion, along with the above examples, Psychology Today reported that something as simple as laughing more at a movie in a theater because you’re surrounded by other people can be a form of social contagion. Likewise, the Rubik’s Cube craze of the 1970s could be seen as a form of social contagion.
Social contagion can be good, bad, or neutral. Good examples include picking up litter because you see someone else cleaning up a park, while bad examples include a peaceful protest becoming violent.
Psychology Today also pointed out that speeding on the highway because others are doing it is a form of social contagion, specifically known as rule violation contagion. Consumer behavior contagions are another form that involves buying crazes, such as the over-buying of toilet paper at the beginning of the COVID pandemic and the Beanie Baby craze of the 1990s.
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