The Invasion from Mars: A Study in the Psychology of Panic

by Hadley Cantril

On Halloween night 1938, Orson Welles broadcast a radio adaptation of the H. G. Wells fantasy, The War of the Worlds . What listeners heard sounded so realistic that at least a million were frightened by word that "strange creatures" from Mars had landed in central New Jersey and were "unleashing a deadly assault." Several thousand were so terrified they ran into the streets, drove away in their cars, or called the police for information about how to escape. Why did so many panic when the circumstances reported were so improbable? That is just the question Hadley Cantril, then a young social psychologist, set out to answer. Originally published in 1940, The Invasion from Mars remains a classic. The broadcast provided a unique real-life opportunity to explore why the relatively new medium of radio could have such an effect. Using a mix of research methods, Cantril shows that the impact of the broadcast had less to do with what went out over the air than with the "standards of judgment" people did or did not use in evaluating what they were hearing. This book is of continuing value to those interested in communications and mass behavior.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, History

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1940

About the author

Albert Hadley Cantril, Jr. was an American psychologist from the Princeton University, who expanded the scope of the field.

Reviews

[Carrie Poppy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Amazed someone was able to pull this all together so soon after the events. Highly recommend.

[hiba ☕︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for my project and I love my degree. I love that it just reinforces everything that I hate about media. Anyways, we’re so desperate for books to add to my reading challenge that we are adding course material… look away.

[Jason Shaffner · Rating 4 out of 5]

In our modern era of fake news, this book provides a compelling reminder that this problem is not really new: many of the same factors that led listeners to believe martians were attacking us in 1938 ring true in 2017. "What is most inconceivable and therefore especially interesting psychologically is why so many people did not do something to verify the information they were receiving from their loudspeakers."

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Statistical and historical insight into the war of the worlds broadcast. Great use for my Senior Thesis.

[Wil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little more analytical that I usually like to read, what's fascinating is the "of the moment" interviews with people who panicked. That part gets the four star treatment.