What Is Groupthink?

Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when a group of individuals reaches a consensus without critical reasoning or evaluation of the consequences or alternatives. Groupthink is based on a𒉰 common desire not to upset the balance of a group of peopl🔴e.

This de꧒sire creates a dynamic withi💧n a group whereby creativity and individuality tend to be stifled in order to avoid conflict.

Understanding Groupthink

In a business setting, groupthink can cause employees and supervisors to overlook potential problems in the pursuit of consensus thinking. Because individual critical thinking is de-emphasized or frowned upon, employees may self-censor and not suggest alternatives for fear of upsetting the stat🔥us quo.

Yale University social psychologist Irving Janis coined the term groupthink in 1972. Janis theorized that groups of intelligent people sometimes make the worst possible decisions based on several factors. For example, the members of a group might all have similar backgrounds that could insulate them from the opinions of outside groups.

Some 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:organizations have no clear rules upon which to make decisions. Groupthink occꦍurs when a party ignores logical al꧟ternatives and makes irrational decisions.

Groupthink Characteristics

Janis identified eight signs, symptoms, or traits of groupthink, all of which lead to flawed conclusions. In summary, the group mayꦕ have an illusion of invincibil🌄ity and consider that nothing the group decides to do can go wrong.

The eight traits of groupthink, according to Janis, are:

• Illusions of unanimity where members convince themselves, without realizing it, that it is best to avoid expressing concerns to prevent disagreement.
• Illusions of morality, or the group's belief that their intentions are of the highest caliber of ideals and principles, can lead members to ignore potential consequences of the group's actions.
• Rationalization of potential warning signs that should cause group members to question their beliefs.
• Stereotyping of contrary viewpoints leads members of the group to reject perspectives that question or challenge the group's ideas.
• "Mindguards" are members of the group who prevent troubling or contrarian viewpoints from circulating among group members. Rather than sharing important information, they may keep quiet or prevent other members from sharing.
• Self-censorship among key decision-makers that cause them to doubt their own misgivings.
• Direct pressure may silence group members who tend to pose inconvenient questions or raise objections that may be seen as evidence of disloyalty.

Collectively, these behaviors may make members of a group excessively optimistic about their success, ignoring any possible negative outcomes. Members are convinced their cause is right and just, so they ignore any moral quandaries of the group's decisions. The group body te෴nds to ignore the suggestions of anyone outside the group.

Any dissenters are pressureꦇd to come around to the consensus. After the𓄧 pressure is exerted, members censor themselves to prevent further shunning. Once decisions are made, the group assumes them to be unanimous.

Time constraints may exacerbate all of these issues, and any decisions that need to be made fast may not undergo 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:due diligence.

What Causes Groupthink

Janis also identified certain factors that may contribute to or exacerbate problems related to groupthink. One of the key factors is group identity: when there is a strong sense of shared identity, group members may place a higher value on in-group perspectives and disregard those perspectives from outside the group. Leadership influences may also be a factor: members may be more likely to ignore their own misgivings if the group has a powerful or charismatic leader.

Information levels and stress may also contribute to groupthink by causing group members to act irrationally. If members of the group lack information or feel that other members are better-informed, they may be more likely to defer to others in group decision-making. High-stress situations can also contribute to poor decisions by reducing the opportunities for careful discussion.

These issues may be exacerbated by extrinsic fa꧅ctors, such as the perception of an external threat to the group or isolation from outside sources of information. Group members might be unable to make rational decisions when they believe they are under urgent pressure for immediate action.

Why Is Groupthink Dangerous?

Groupthink may cause people to ignore or reject important information, ultimately leading to poor decisions and errors in leadership. These errors can sometimes result in disaster or unethical behavior because the key dౠecision-makers are unaware of potential risks and contrarian viewpoints have been silenced.

Groupthink is particularly dangerous in political situations where decisions are made through collective deliberation, and no single member of the group has enough knowledge to make an informed decision. Members of the group may feel pressure to conform to the consensus or pressure other members to conform. This may result in the false perception that the group is unanimous, creating even more pressure for group members to hide their misgivings.

How to Avoid Groupthink

Even in highly cohesive groups, there are steps that can be taken to lessen the impact of groupthink on collective decision-making. Groupthink arises out of a natural pressure for conformity, so the problem can be alleviated by assigning one member to act as a "devil's advocate," intentionally raising every possible objection. Since this is an assigned role, the devil's advocate need not worry about the perception of being opposed to the group.

Group members may avoid speaking out to avoid contracting the group's leadership. To avoid that problem, leaders should step back from early discussions to allow lower-ranked members to air their views first. After discussion, leaders should consider holding a "second-chance" discussion for any objections that were not raised before.

Example of Groupthink

After the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff on the morning of Jan. 28, 1986, investigators discovered that a series of poor decisio♊ns led to the deaths of seven astronauts. The day before the launch, engineers from Morton Thiokol, the company that built the solid rocket boosters, had warned flight managers at NASA that the O-ring seals on the booster rockets would fail in the freezing temperatures forecast for that morning.🅺 The O-rings were not designed for anything below 53 degrees Fahrenheit.

NASA personnel overrode the scientific facts presented by the engineers who were experts in their fields and fell victim to groupthink. When flight readiness reviewers received the go-ahead for launch from lower-level NASA managers, no mention was made of Morton Thiokol's objections. The shuttle launched as scheduled, but the result was disastrous.

Other events that may be possible grܫoupthink-involved failures include the Bay of Pigs invasion, Watergate, and the escalation of the Vietnam War.

The Bottom Line

G🌺roupthink occurs when people converge on the same idea with little critical thinking or opposition within the ranks. While groupthink can signal solidarity and may show respect or deference to more senior leaders, it also shuts down dissenting voices and alternative opinions. This means that wrong ideas 🎐or bad strategies can become amplified and ultimately implemented. Groupthink, therefore, can lead to suboptimal or even disastrous outcomes.