Doris Lessing Group Minds

In 1951, Solomon Asch carried out several experiments on conformity. The aim of these studies was to investigate conformity in a group environment situation. The purpose of these experiments was to see if an individual would be swayed by public pressure to go along with the incorrect answer. Asch believed that conformity reflects on relatively rational process in which people are pressured to change their behaviour. Asch designed experiments to measure the pressure of a group situation upon an individual judgment. Asch wanted to prove that conformity can really play a big role in disbelieving our own senses.

Groupthink can be defined as a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in irrational decision-making. In 1971, twenty-four psychologically stable men took part in a trial known as The Stanford Prison Experiment. The purpose of the experiment was to prove that an individual’s perception of their own power is heavily influenced by social context and societal expectations of their role. The men involved in the experiment were assigned either the role of a prisoner or a guard to represent positions in society, both with power and without. More specifically, the conductors of The Stanford Prison Experiment focused on analyzing the different behavioral

In conclusion there has been evidence to show that groups have both a negative and also a positive effect on its members. It has been demonstrated that some people will cope with the negative effects in an unproductive way by changing their behaviour in way that was detrimental to the well being of themselves and its other members. However the positives can have a very powerful effect on a person in that it can promote a sense of identity, loyalty and

This is modeled by the fact that people being in groups, causes them to act and think differently than they would have if they had been alone. In her essay, Tavris uses many examples of this: In the case of Kitty Genovese or the late Rodney King who was beat to death by police officers. People have a tendency to act differently in groups, others suffer due to people not wanting to “rock the boat” or they do not want to “embarrass themselves or others if they are wrong” (19). Tavris offers a solution to the way people act in groups, “By understanding the impulse to diffuse responsibility, perhaps as individuals we will be more likely to act. By understanding the social pressures that reward group-think, loyalty and obedience, we can foster those that reward whistle blowing and moral courage. And, as a society, we can reinforce the belief that they also sing who stand and watch” (19). If civilization can solve the dilemma of people acting differently when they are in groups with others, the world could be a much improved place.

Social influences shape every person's practices, judgments, and beliefs. (Asch 306) In "Opinions and Social Pressure", Solomon Asch examines how individuals tend to conform to a group or majority. He does this by explaining the results of his experiment that he devised to observe to what extent conformity occurs. In her essay titled "Group Minds", Doris Lessing claims that as a society we have enough knowledge about conformity to do something about it, yet we choose not to. Although Doris Lessing and Solomon Asch both suggest that people desire independence yet yield to conformity, Asch's experiment adds specificity to Lessing's claims. Lessing speaks generally about groups and the effect they have on conformity, whereas Asch's experiment

Irving Janis, a social psychologist, studied how social behavior is influenced in group settings. In 1972, he coined the name ‘groupthink’ to describe observed behavioral changes in individuals belonging to groups. Groupthink is characterized by a group’s pursuit for unity, often resulting in individual members disregarding or altering their own beliefs to coincide with the majority, or group’s, beliefs. This disregard or altercation ensures that the group stays unified; however, results in the group committing illogical actions without considering

In her article “Group Minds”, Doris Lessing believes that one does not think with their own mind, instead they think like a group or a majority. Furthermore, western people can’t stand up or go against a huge group or individuals who think similarly creating this misunderstanding of thinking wrong. Often, it is assumed that if one stands out or acts particularly different then he or she is wronging everyone else. In other words, the odd one out has to be wrong if everyone else seems to agree upon a similar belief. To think about it, does everyone really seem to agree upon the same belief or are they indirectly and subconsciously pressurized to agree or believe a certain similar thing.

Doris Lessing presents a discussion in “Group Minds” “regarding the context of obedience in group settings by shedding light on its most fundamental flaw, the “western image”. The western image is one of individualism, we are social creatures by nature.” “By socializing in groups we diminish the space for our individual growth by abiding by the ideologies of one group.” Lessing was a daughter of farmers born in Persia, present day Iran in the year 1919. Lessing’s educational journey started at a Roman Catholic convent and followed up in a southern girl’s high school in southern Rhodesia present day Zimbabwe. From the year of 1959, up until today Lessing has been described as the best female novelists of the postwar era. Writing over twenty works of fiction. Obedience to authority plays a huge role on the human psych for example, Phillip Zimbardo’s “Stanford prison experiment” consisting of two control groups, one of complete authority, and one that was completely powerless. The evidence shows a lack of individualism due to obedience to authority explained further by Shirley Jackson who demonstrates in “The Lottery” the effect of social groups, and how that affects the conscious mind and decisions. Diffusion of responsibility is seen in both articles, proving that even when our personal morals are challenged, we’ll submit to peer pressure.

Groupthink: Groupthink is a way that groups may try to keep levels of conflict low. The problem is that all members pretend that they agree with a decision, which discourages creativity. Without counter arguments being presented, the group is susceptible to bad or even irrational decisions (Beebe p. 191).

The term groupthink in this report is defined as, the social psychological phenomenon that results in groups during pressure situations. This social psychology theory is broken down into eight signs. Illusion of invulnerability, Collective rationalization, Belief in inherent morality, Stereotyped views of out-groups, Direct pressure on dissenters, Self-censorship, Illusion of unanimity, Self-appointed “mindguards”. According to research conducted by Irving Janis, there are three conditions to groupthink. The first, "high group cohesiveness" which is the direction for a group to be in unity while working towards a goal, or to satisfy the emotional needs of its members. Secondly, the structural faults such as insulation of the group, lack

Groupthink theory often occurs without the group’s realization. Irving Janis formed 8 different symptoms that indicate groupthink. The first of these symptoms is illusions of vulnerability. This occurs when members of the group are overly optimistic and believe that nothing negative will arise from their decision. Janis describes it as taking great risks and acquiring the attitude of “everything is going to be OK, because we are a special group”. Secondly we have belief in inherent morality. This symptom is characterized as the groups thought that they could do no wrong. They believe that they have high morality, that they are right in all situations and they ignore the ethical consequences that could arise because of their decisions. As the third

American psychologist, Rollo May, once said, “the opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.” This philosophy is supported by Solomon E.Asch’s in his article, “The Opinions and Social Pressure.” In the article, Asch conducts a series of experiments that centralize on the influences of social pressure and the extent to which an individual, when confronted by the differing opinions of a majority, will surrender their perceptions to others. Asch argues that although humans believe they’re independent in their decision-making, they tend to pay heed to the majority because they fear the scrutiny of others and being an outcast in the group.

To begin with, Lessing’s group minds associates with Rousseau’s general will philosophy. Individuals believe that they are free to make the choices that they are entitled to, and will so do, as it is human nature. But contrary to that idea, individuals within an assembly of other individuals will

Solomon Asch was a psychologist that conduced numerous expirments designed to illustrate the increasing conformity within social groups. The experiments also invesigated the effect the number of people present within the group had one the conformity rate. Asch hypothesized, “ that the majority of the people would not conform to something obviosly wrong; however, when surrounded by (other) individuals all voicing an incorrect answer, 75% of them(the participant) will conform to the groups answer” (Watzlawick 1976)

One of the facets of living within civilized society is that there are certain norms and social conventions that people must follow. Frequently, there is a large effort on the part of government, financial, and social institutions to keep people doing most of the same thing as others going to work, driving cars, buying homes, etc. Despite the fact that people engage in these efforts individually, the simple fact that they are all attempting to do the same thing, in much the same way, is indicative of the fact that they are engaged in collective behavior. THESIS: Those who are able to overcome collective behavior and allow for their individuality to determine their own outcomes exemplify the best of human nature.