Peaceful protesting can make people extremely impatient. Taking a stance might make a difference. Increased levels of emotional stress may cause an individual to act on it. The first thing I would do is target the core reasoning behind the protest. The incentive is that people do not want to break the law, but instead, change it. Sometimes riots can achieve more and get us closer to our desires than a peaceful protest can.
The second thing to stir up a riot would be to intensify all the negative emotions. This includes anger, aggression, sadness, and high levels of stress. It is easier to act out in extreme levels of anger, because people cannot think clearly. Motivating each other during the protest makes us feel more secure and influences people to work together for the morality behind it. Under any circumstances however, I would avoid trying to bring harm to anyone who is protesting. To cause a riot at a peaceful protest, I would target the core reason for the protest, and make it personal.
It is easier to target a negative reaction when people feel personally attacked. Violence does not always mean physical harm, but emotional harm and mental damage. People want to make things personal, and once it reaches that point, people have a higher chance of acting out in negative behavior. People are extremely prideful, and once someone damages it in anyway, tension increases. Protests have a specific purpose, which is to justify what they think is wrong and needs to be changed. If people do not take immediate action in protests, it will be harder for other groups to follow.
This is probably because they feel like they are being silenced Dao 2 Michelle Dao PSY 345 Professor Rutchick 17 December 2018 and want to make a change that is important to them. Finally, I would avoid bringing any physical harm to those who are protesting peacefully. I in no way want to stimulate any physical violence to the point where someone gets extremely hurt or potentially killed. People want to be heard but in a manner that does not get anyone hurt. Causing a scene is fine, but there is an extent which we cannot reach because we are unaware of potential outcomes.
If I were to cause a riot at a peaceful protest, the second thing I would do would increase the tension and stir up more emotions. Increase the tension enough to where people want to act out, but not cause any physical fights. Avoiding breaking into fist fights or anything that causes physical harm. Increase the tension high enough to where people want to change the peaceful protests, but not enough to where people would want to rip each other’s heads off. Aggression is the behavior that a person wants to harm another individual that does not want to be harmed. It is not an internal response.
Increased feelings of aggressive can potentially lead to actual aggression, but it depends on the individual whether they want to act upon it. They follow their emotions and how they are feeling. The theory that aggression is caused by frustration plays an important part. If people are protesting and nothing has changed, frustration increases, and people are likely to take it one step further.
Creating a more hostile environment can intensify the aggressive behavior. People act on impulse rather than sit patiently and see if anything has changed. Increasing the impatience of a person can lead to anger, and when the anger is bottled in, it increases chances of lashing out. Finally, it is easier to motivate others in the morality of the protest, so it influences others to result in a riot. Protesting our speeches, stating what we are protesting for what for the Dao 3 Michelle Dao PSY 345 Professor Rutchick 17 December 2018 morality of it persuades the surrounding crowd.
By persuading a crowd and taking a stance, it shows confidence, and attracts people to engage in that same behavior. It is a lot easier to cause a riot when you are not alone, and people are behind you on the situation. People live in fear of getting in trouble, which prevents them from reacting in certain scenarios. People just do not want to get in trouble especially when it defies the law.
For some reason, people will act out and follow if everyone else does it. Consider the domino effect. If one group begins, another group follows. For example, a slow clap. If a single person starts to clap, people are likely to follow along and clap as well. In high levels of emotional stress, people will not really think about their actions, but instead they will act immediately. Sometimes people feel nervous, and intense negative emotions can stimulate aggressive behavior. In conclusion, peaceful protests can benefit a cause, but in some cases, changes will not be made.
Destructive riots can sometimes achieve more than a protest, because people are actively doing something that makes them be seen and heard. Targeting the core reasoning behind a protest can increase the negative feelings and increase tension. Stirring up emotions and increasing negative behavior can lead to irrational thinking and lashing out aggressively. Finally, a crucial factor is to never protest alone, and it is better to persuade your group. Remind them why they are protesting in the first place and that changes need to be made.