Emotional simultaneity and the construction of victim unity.

Includes bibliographical references

Reprinted from Symbolic interaction; 1999; v. 22, no. 2; p. 163-179

One of the concerns in recent work on the sociology of emotions is the link between emotions and social bonding. A version of this issue has also been discussed in research on disasters, with the focus being on how the crisis leads to the cohesion essential to recovery and rebuilding. This paper provides an analysis of a fire and its aftermath and shows how central emotions are to understanding the social psychology of the event. Most important here is the fact that, when identifying themselves as fire victims, those affected by the disaster assumed that they experienced the same profound emotions at the same time. This emotional simultaneity led fire victims to emphasize their bonds to one another and heighten their boundaries with nonvictims. In turn, this led to their providing social support, comparative experiences, and practical assistance to each other