The term Groupthink was coined by social psychologist Irving Janis (1972). It is when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment”. Groups affected by groupthink ignore alternatives and tend to take irrational actions that dehumanize other groups. A group is especially vulnerable to groupthink when its members are similar in background, when the group is insulated from outside opinions, and when there are no clear rules for decision making. It is like peer pressure on steriods.
Share another example of Groupthink in action that you know from history, personal experience or observation. Because we are social beings, we are all prone to Groupthink. What might we do to prevent becoming prey to the power of Groupthink?
I think that Germany's citizens were victims to group-thinking. I am positive that not all Germans felt how the Nazis felt, but because of the military pressures, they felt like they had no choice in the matter and followed along in support of the Nazi movement.
ReplyDeleteAnd your suggestion to over come GroupThink would be........
ReplyDeleteI think that the left wing (mainstream) media is a victim of groupthink. Here are a few examples why: the left wing media puts pressure on FOX NEWS to be wrong on many issues. The left wing media ancors such as Scott Pelly from CBS, Peter Jennings from NBC, and Diane Sawyer put a lot of pressure on FOX NEWS Channel to be wrong. People like Diane Sawyer, Scott Pelly, and Peter Jennings all try to compete for air time to mess with FOX NEWS. They push their left wing belifs instead of pushing real journalism to the public, which we need to know on a first hand basis. They only see the story from one side, not from both sides like FOX NEWS does. The way to overcome GroupThink is to be fair to both parties on any issue that needs to be covered.
ReplyDeleteOH, you read this stuff, Im just playing. In addition to my above mentioned I would say that when it comes to peer pressure and following along it just comes natural since we are social by nature. And in the moment of self preservation, some wil do just about anything, even if it means to dehumanize someone. So to overcome negative groupthink I recall a saying by Abraham Lincoln,
ReplyDelete"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong". Be independent if necessary, I don't hang out with my old friends because of the lifestyles they live.
I think one of the most obvious places you will see groupthink is on a jury. There are 12 folks from all different backgrounds, and all different cultures. They are all stuck together for the duration of the trail and are not aloud to talk to anyone about the case or trail until it’s all over. You really only need one person within that group who is good with people or very persuasive and the minds of all of them can be swayed. I think is one of the best examples of groupthink, nothing but peer pressure, and no outside contacts.
ReplyDeleteJeffery Ziegler
I think a good example of group think would be the different cliques you see while you're in school. Some examples would be jocks, nerds, band kids, etc. Most everyone in those cliques share similar backgrounds and interest which may cause group think to happen. To avoid it all those people in those groups need to be around others that are in different groups. This will let them take in new ideas that they wouldn't have heard otherwise because of the way they themselves think or the other people they usually hang out with think. Others that are different are also most likely to give you better advice based on their own experiences rather than going to someone that is more like you.
ReplyDeleteNot only are kids in elementary school diabolical, conniving, little cretins, they are also experts at groupthink. If you don't want to play Tag or House like everybody else, you are condisered a "stinky doody-head" and no one will play with you or even be around you because of that. Even though kids have the freedom to play what they want, there is always that group of boys or those two bossy girls that dictate what everyone else should say or think because they say so. The other kids follow along because either they think it's fun, they want to belong, or they don't want to be a "stinky doody-head". Teaching kids to stand up for themselves and thinking about situations in a realistic perspective at an early age like in elementary school will help them shield themselves from more aggressive forms of groupthink later on in life.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice Ramos
The most obvious example of groupthink would be in the conflict between religion and politics. The best example I could think of is the well-known Westboro Baptist Church. They protest and picket frequently at social/political events by hold hateful signs and being insensitive in general. They all seem to have the same delusional view of Christianity, live in close proximity, and have lots of money; so they seem pretty susceptible to groupthink behavior. So if you had different political view than the church, they would kick you out and make you feel bad. To correct being part of groupthink they would have to start thinking more independently. The best way they could escape groupthink would be to physically separate from the church and get some cultural education. If they don’t leave the church, they stay stuck in their sad condition.
ReplyDeleteI think that an example of group think would be hurricane Katrina. There were several groups of people that thought they could stay behind and "weather" the storm. All it took was for one person to think it would be ok, that they could survive being in their homes and next thing you know it was a domino effect and hundreds lost their lives. There were plenty of opportunity to leave New Orleans but they were too stubborn to leave their belongings and run for safety. Whole neighborhoods were staying behind because they thought it was a good idea and everyone else was doing it.
ReplyDeleteI would like to say, correct me if I'm wrong, but a positive example of group thinking would be the U.S. Constitution. The creation of this document was made in a time of crisis back in our history when our soon to be country was just forming. The delegates and representatives of that time that composed their ideas, defininitely considered other alternatives but wisely chose this as the best decision to establish structure, form of rules, and a sense of unity.Group thinking states that irrational decisions are taken and dehumanize other groups groups. Instead, this example of Group Thinking, it offers value to the humanship of mankind.
ReplyDeleteJonathon Tapia
Yessssss, I finally remembered to get on here and do my blog! I always remember but it's usually wed. morning. Anyways, group think! I think a prime example of group think would be the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. The Hutu tribe of Rwanda had an absolute deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment” when they attempted to exterminate the minority Tutsis because of ethnic tensions in the area. I'm sure there were many that did not agree with this killing but when massive pressure is thrown in by your fellow tribe I think they had little choice. Of course the background of these people were very similar. There was also a huge lack of outside influence being where they were in Africa as well as an unstable government that lacked any clear law or rule for decision making. Easier said than done, but I think the only way to get around group think is to ask questions and opinions from everyone, especially outside sources. One must also remember to be loud and voice their honest opinion and stand by it no matter how unpopular it may be with the majority.
ReplyDeleteGroupthink has lead to many irrational decisions in our history. I think back to the time of the Salem Which Trials as a prime example of groupthink. During this time many young girls accused upstanding members of the community of being witches simply for entertainment. One girl would start with allegations against a person and manipulate other girls into making the same false statements. This type of negative thinking against one individual was furthered when adults within the community became involved. Fearing for the safety of their children these parents adopted their children's behaviors and convicted innocent people of horrific acts. This community wide pandemonium lead to many people loosing their lives for crimes they did not commit. Group thinking changed the course of history during this time.
ReplyDeleteI think the most important way to prevent oneself from falling victim to groupthink is to become educated on the subject at hand. By understanding all aspects of a particular subject or matter a person can form their own unbiased judgement. This will keep a person from being influenced by others.
A great example of groupthink is the institution of slavery. It's basically supported by the false notion that humans can be held as property, so long as they're in a minority ethnicity. The people who have been propagating this fallacy for thousands of years justify their right to own slaves by bad science, religion, and the perceived dominance of their own cultures. Even though neither science nor religion corroborates this view, there is safety in numbers. For example, the majority of southerners before (and after) the civil war thought it was perfectly moral to dehumanize blacks by holding them in bondage. The only way all these people could have agreed on something so evil was that they each surrendered their own morals and feelings in favor of being held blameless under the protection of majority rule. I'm not sure how to convince others not to subject themselves to the barbarity of groupthink, but I do believe that the smallest minority is the individual, and the only authority we have is over ourselves.
ReplyDeleteAs been a manager of a development group, I thought group thinking is like a double-edge sword.
ReplyDeleteBrain storming, which is be used on almost every project weekly meeting. It is also the most reliable and effective way(at least be believed by most people) to be considered to approach the plenty enough idea in shortest time.
But during it working I notice, someone who always has the "weird idea" was keeping hammered by all the voices come from majority. After this scene happened a couple of times, those "weird idea man" selected to keep silence or tend to draw their idea back before they become the target of retorting. At the end, most of brain storming can always get one or multiple ideas which is "most acceptable", but sometimes they are not the "most ideal" or even irrational.
That bring me a thinking about our so call "majority voice". Actually it is a process of self-authorization. People will tend to select the most lubricate choice to maximum their certain benefit. Therefore, if a "most lubricate choice" had been set there from initiate, the majority voice will appriciate it almost absolutely. During the voting or discussion process, we are actually authorize ourselves to achieve it by using "group thinking" or "majority voice". In another word, if you want to get something in this competition, you have to stand in the right side.