Groupthink

A mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ striving for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternate courses of action

GroupThink

Illusion of Invulnerability, Belief in the inherent morality of the group, Collective Rationalization, Out-group stereotypes, Self-Censorship, Illusion of Unanimity, Direct Pressure on Dissenters, Self-Appointed Mind Guards

List all of the symptoms of GroupThink

The attitude of, "everything is going to work out all right because we are a special group"

Illusion of Invulnerability

Members automatically assume the "rightness" of their cause.

Belief in the Inherent Morality of the Group

Hear no evil see no evil speak no evil. Thinking that the group is right so I don’t have to pay attention.

Collective Rationalization

the out-groups are bad

Out-group Stereotypes

Censoring yourself or not stressing your opinion as strenuously as you could.

Self-Censorship

Neglecting information that contradicts the thinking of the group.

Illusion of Unanimity

Pressuring people to agree with you that are voicing contrary opinions or points of view.

Direct Pressure on Dissenters

Limiting the information that decision makers by not asking or not reporting dissenting opinions.

Self-Appointed Mind Guards

Remedies against groupthink

-Using a policy-forming group which reports to the larger group -Having leaders remain impartial -Discussing within sub-groups and then report back -Using outside experts -Using a Devil’s advocate to question all the group’s ideas -Holding a "second-chance meeting" to offer one last opportunity to choose another course of action – encourage critical thinking -NGT (nominal group technique) writing down opinions/suggestions on a piece of paper anonymously

Theory of Groupthink

Mode of thinking: concern for reaching and maintaining consensus instead of making the best decision.

What are the three antecedents (causes) of Groupthink?

Cohesiveness; Structural Aspects of the group; Provocative situational context

Group Cohesion

Member will refrain from dissenting in order to have good relationships in the group- Normative Social Influence.

Structural Aspects of the Group

Organized in a way which prevents good decision making. Leader of group has most responsibility if group is not structured well enough to make effective decisions.

Provocative Situational Context

Aspects about a group itself which cause poor decision making. Group must make decision quickly. Decision effects resources and power to group.

If a group comes from a similar background or experience the group is said to be…

Homogeneous

Group is insulated if…

Isolated from outside opinion. Challenging idea may not be expressed if there is an investment in the group.

List another problem with groups

decision making policies lacking.

If a leader announces decision during or before deliberations this inhibits…

Open discussion/ Group members may not go against the leader.

The "structure" portion of the group think model involves what three issues…

Insulated(isolated), homogeneity, poor decision making procedures.

We have looked at the antecedents. Now we need to look at the effects of the group think. What are they?

Illusion of invulnerability; closed mindedness; pressure toward uniformity; poor decision making

What happens in poor decision making?

Bias; Don’t examine risk; don’t look at alternatives

illusions of invulnerability

belief that nothing can go wrong with in the group

illusion of morality

the self righteous belief that the virtues of group are above reproach

stereotyping

categorizing of others outside the group in ways that see their views as unacceptable

self-censorship

the overt restraint of group members against offering opinions counter to the prevailing thought in the group

illusion of unanimity

the statement of group agreement while private doubts and disagreements are suppressed

direct pressure of dissidents

the coercive force that obliges group members to behave and think in similar ways

reliance on self-appointed mind guards

the protection of the group from contrary information from outside influences

Groupthink occurs when groups place group harmony above:

motivation to assess plans of action

Irving Janis Theory of Groupthink focuses on _____ groups.

problem solving

_____________ is defined as the extent to which group members are willing to work together, or the group’s sense of togetherness.

Cohesiveness

Group work is favored in many instances, because:

more heads offer more informations

_____________, a structural factor leading to Groupthink, means that the group is able to be unaffected by the outside world.

Group Insulation

_____________, a structural factor leading to Groupthink, means that the group is led by people who have a personal interest in the outcome.

Lack of impartial leadership

When a decision to go to war is made because the U.S. perceives its way of life to be the best way, the decision makers may be suffering a symptom of Groupthink known as:

belief in an inherent morality of the group

When President Lyndon Johnson and his staff thought of the North Vietnamese as only Communists, they exhibited _____________, according to Groupthink.

Out-group stereotypes

Groupthink can be avoided through a variety of strategies, including:

requiring oversight and control

Janis’s theory was based on decisions made by organizations like Enron and Arthur Anderson. (T or F)

False Although Groupthink could be applied to Enron and Arthur Anderson’s decision-making, Janis actually derived the theory by examining governmental/presidential decisions, like Kennedy’s decision to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.

The term affiliative constraints refers to group members’ tendency to hold back on criticisms because they don’t want to be rejected by the other members.(T or F)

True Affiliative constraints, a term coined by Dennis Gouran,refers to the fact that group members fear rejection and thus participate in ways that will maintain the group’s harmony rather than fully examine the problem.

According to Groupthink, external stress tends to motivate a group and spur it on to better, more productive decision making. (T or F)

False External stress on the group may evoke Groupthink. When decision makers are under great stress, they tend to break down and make poor decisions.

Janis thought that pressures toward uniformity could take many forms, including self-censorship.

True Self-censorship refers to group members’ tendency to minimize their doubts and counterarguments, providing an atmosphere of uniformity of opinion in the group.

Heurism of Groupthink

The theory of Groupthink is a heuristic undertaking; the theory and many of its elements have been employed in a number of studies and have enjoyed the attention of many communication and social psychology scholars. The theory has generated a number of assumptions about group behavior, and Groupthink remains an important part of the literature on group decision making.

Scope of Groupthink

Despite the fact that many groupthink principles can be applied to several types of groups, Janis was clear in his original conceptualization in applying Groupthink solely to decision-making groups in crisis periods; he does not readily apply his thinking to every group type. Therefore, the scope of the theory could be defined as narrow.

Testability of Groupthink

Group scholars have pointed to some validity problems with the theory, therefore calling into question its testability. For instance, Jeanne Longley and Dean Pruitt (1980) criticize the validity of the theory. They argue that half of the symptoms of groupthink are not associated with concurrence seeking-a key feature of the theory. They charge that "a theory should be a logical progression of ideas, not a grab-bag of phenomena that were correlated with each other in a sample of six cases" (p. 80). Further, they note that Janis incorporates self-esteem in discussions of groupthink, but failed to mention it in his theory. In later writings, however, Janis (1982) addresses self-esteem as an antecedent to groupthink.

Test of Time of Groupthink

Test of Time The theory of Groupthink has withstood the test of time. Scholars continue to investigate many of its fundamental features, and the theory continues to be discussed in the popular media (newspapers and television). On the thirtieth anniversary of Groupthink, Schwartz and Wald (2003) called Janis a "pioneer in the study of social dynamics" (p. 4). Finally, given that government policy decisions will always exist, the likelihood of future instances of groupthink is rather high.