Few things interest or influence people to as great or as personal an extent as other people. Being extremely social animals, people find the attentions and actions of others an important source of information about themselves and their environment.

Fire research and case studies have demonstrated the tremendous influence of people on individual actions. These actions include:

Avoidance behaviours. People may tend to deny unwelcome interpretations of information such as initial cues of fire as a way to 'explain away' unpleasant situations rather than confronting their consequences directly. To some degree, this response may be a way of avoiding the appearance of over-reacting or seeming 'out-of-control' to others.

Affiliation behaviours. The speed with which individuals respond to an otherwise obvious situation is often determined by the speed of the slowest member of the group. This remains true even in ad hoc groups formed by circumstances such as entering an elevator or attending a public event. The tendency to retain group structures may owe to an innate sense of 'security in numbers'. Where emotional bonds amongst group members are particularly strong or permanent, affiliation can encourage individuals to disregard personal risk in order to save others such as children or siblings.�

Commitment behaviours. Once people have begun to engage in a particular behaviour or activity, they tend to remain engaged in that behaviour or activity. Even mundane activities like queuing encourage surprisingly strong commitment. This desire to see things through or complete work-in-progress probably owes less to diligence or dedication than persistence or economy. People often marginalise extraneous cues they cannot control so as to prevent themselves from being distracted. This saves time by eliminating the need to re-organise themselves so they can re-engage their tasks.�

Role behaviours. Individual responsibilities to a group or one's status within an organisation often influence the way a person sees a situation and responds to information. Retaining existing roles provides an important way of making sense of situations that present new or challenging circumstances for the individual or group. Several case studies have illustrated how waiters in restaurants continue to cater to the customers at their station when it comes time to evacuate even when this action is not planned.�

Obtaining a sound appreciation of how group dynamics influence individual actions can help evacuation planners harness behaviours such as affiliation and role that can improve fire outcomes. Likewise, fire engineers and other building designers must be aware of the influence of commitment and avoidance behaviours on pre-movement delays when estimating required egress time to ensure safe egress time is adequate.�