Group behavior refers to the attitudes, beliefs, and actions of a collective group of people. The Twelve Nidanas of dependent origination, a Buddhist concept, helps understand how these attitudes, beliefs, and actions shape and reinforce the collective identity and behavior. The Twelve Nidanas are a cycle of twelve factors that describe how suffering arises and how it can be overcome. By recognizing the interdependence of these factors, groups can work towards cultivating positive attitudes and behaviors that promote well-being, compassion, and wisdom for all sentient beings.

The Twelve Nidanas of dependent origination can be applied to group behavior as follows

1. Ignorance (avijja) Ignorance refers to a lack of understanding, particularly of the interdependence of all phenomena. Group behavior may lack critical thinking and may promote divisive attitudes and beliefs that lead to suffering.

2. Mental formations (sankhara) Due to ignorance, the group may form collective attitudes and beliefs shaped by their mental formations, which can lead to positive and negative outcomes.

3. Consciousness (viññana) The groups consciousness is conditioned by their collective attitudes and beliefs, which in turn influences how they perceive and respond to situations.

4. Name and form (nama-rupa) The groups shared psychophysical constituents manifest in a way that is influenced by their collective attitudes and beliefs.

5. The six sense bases (salayatana) The groups sense organs (collectively) interact with the external world.

6. Contact (phassa) The group encounters a situation or stimulus that triggers a collective response or behavior.

7. Feeling (vedana) The group experiences a collective emotion or feeling in response to the situation.

8. Craving (tanha) The group develops a collective desire or aspiration to address the situation or bring about change.

9. Clinging (upadana) The groups attachment to their collective desire or aspiration intensifies, and they cling to it as a way of dealing with the situation.

10. Becoming (bhava) This collective clinging reinforces the groups collective attitudes and beliefs, leading to further collective action and behavior.

11. Birth (jati) The groups behavior manifests in the form of collective action or protests, reinforcing the cycle of collective attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.

12. Old age and death (jara-marana) The groups collective behavior can lead to physical, social, and emotional suffering and perpetuate negative consequences for the group in future situations or even future generations.

Breaking the cycle of negative attitudes and beliefs in group behaviour is possible by striving for wisdom, cultivating positive attitudes and behaviors such as gratitude, compassion, and generosity, and recognizing the interdependence of all sentient beings. By developing mindfulness, the group can gain a better understanding of others conditioning and remain open to different perspectives. Practicing restraint of senses can also help the group reduce delusion and remain centered in different situations. Developing a more skillful response to stimuli, such as by cultivating a sense of equanimity, can lead to positive and constructive action in protesting or addressing the situation.