Groupthink Analysis

My experience with groupthink can not be narrowed down to one event. It is more like my whole 4th grade year. In 2007, I had just arrived in Canada from the Philippines. Being a newcomer, I tried my best to fit in, make new friends, and did what any Canadian kids my age did. There was this girl that for some reason everyone avoided. To fit in, my instinct told me to avoid her as well. So, every time she came close I would run away, anything she touched, I would not dare touch, and speaking to her would be the worst possible thing anyone could do. Back then I did not understand why we would do such things. All I knew is that I had to do them to be considered “cool”. For the better part of my elementary school career I did my best to abide by these unwritten rules, without knowing the real reason as to why they exist in the first place. I remember one afternoon, I met up with my teammates and coach in the girl’s classroom. As I sit down at a random desk, my friends thought it would be funny to

The power of a group is immense. Although composed of individuals, a group functions as a separate entity, and it bears the capability to heavily influence the thoughts and actions of its members. This manipulation can alter the perception of the entire group and, as a result, lead to a psychological phenomenon known as “groupthink”. Research psychologist, Irving Janis, defined groupthink as “. . . a deterioration in mental efficiency, reality testing and moral judgments as a result of group pressures” (84). Janis further categorized groupthink into eight symptoms, spanning three types; overestimation of the group, close-mindedness, and pressure toward uniformity (Rose 38). The invention of the internet and social media has allowed for

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 is when group members are agreeable because they either do not want to disagree with others or they are not wanting to think of anything new. Groupthink happens when people feel that their opinion will not be valued or might be shut down right away (Wood, 2011). The group I worked with avoided groupthink by asking others opinions on how we wanted the project to end up. The group listened to and valued each other's opinions. When a group member would make a suggestion we would make sure to work with it and not shut it down. The group I worked with with was very good at avoiding groupthink. The working environment was kept fun and focused. We worked hard to give the project our best and made sure that we each brought something into the group that someone else had not. When there was a conflict we would all give our opinions and then meet somewhere in the middle where it fit best and made everyone happy. One thing that could have been done better was we could have asked if anyone disagreed with us instead of waiting for them to come forward. The group that I worked with effectively avoided groupthink because of how the situations were

There are eight symptoms of groupthink. The first symptom is when all or most of the group view themselves as invincible which causes them to make decisions that may be risky.

Groupthink causes groups to fail at staying on task or deciding on an objective. Groups will leave out information that does not support their position. They won’t justify the pros and cons of their decision. Those people that don’t agree with the group’s opinion will not speak up because they fear that it will cause them to

Group think occurs, when a group makes bad decisions because of the group pressures which can lead to a decline of the group. Also, show how damaging it can be to accept the ideas of the group without questioning the person knowledge. I think Donald Trump can be described as a group think. He tells people what they wanted to hear. He will insult people who criticized his policies. Because he wanted to exciting the Republicans base.

Groupthink is a phenomenon that happens in an organisation because often required to work in groups or teams. Almost all organisations work within groups on certain projects to reach a decision on ideas and plans. Groupthink requires the group to conform to the same beliefs and requires cohesiveness at all times. Groupthink occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressure lead to a deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing and moral judgement” (Irving Janis).

Groupthink: “A group’s ‘strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action.’”

Every individual should also try his best to achieve his goal because it’s important to achieve the team objective as well as organizational objective. Every team member should make real effort to build strong relational ship with each other. Each team member should give support feedback and gaudiness to other team member to achieve goal. Each staff member expresses loyalty and motivates other to work.

In an effort to avoid conflict in the pursuit of consensus a working group may fail to carefully analyse a situation and approach it with reasoned decision making. This is known as Groupthink and the negative effects involved with it can be disastrous. This essay will argue that the negative effects of Groupthink must be acknowledged and understood if they are to be circumvented with effective strategies. Simply put, effective strategies for mitigating the negative aspects of groupthink must be approached with a solid understanding of the negative effects of groupthink and the symptoms that arise within a group suffering from it. The body of this essay will critically analyse a number of different strategies for mitigating Groupthink from over the last thirty three years and go on to argue that these strategies rely on a groups’ understanding of the symptoms of Groupthink and its’ ability to vigilantly govern its own risk of the negative effects of groupthink through protocol, education and awareness and diligent documentation process and ensuring advocacy and impartiality though the processes which will be covered in more detail hereafter.

Groupthink can be described as a phenomena that causes a group of people to become so extremely concerned with unanimity that each person makes decisions without considering all of his or her options. This type of phenomena tends to hold a negative connotation because the thought process associated with the theory causes people to fall to “peer

Groupthink is a theory of social interaction involved with methods of group decision-making, originally developed by Irving Janis, a social psychologist, in 1972 (Communication Theory). Groupthink was initially described by Janis as the thought processes of people engaged in group decision-making with a deep desire to conform to ‘in-group members’ーrequiring extreme loyalty to group values and the exclusion of those deemed part of an ‘out-group’. In situations when groupthink occurs, the need for members of the group discussion to conform their ideas to those of the group overpowers the individual’s need to evaluate group choices critically, whether or not one fully agrees or supports an alternative answer (Psychology Today). There inlies danger

Make sure everyone on your team understands the key role they play in contributing to the success of the department. Ensure each employee is in alignment toward the overall strategy so your group can work as a team and help each other out. Positive team energy will help motivate everyone.

A dysfunction of highly cohesive groups and teams that has received a lot of attention hasbeen referred to as groupthink. In groupthink there is a deterioration of mental efficiency,reality testing, and moral judgement that results from in-group pressure. It results from thepressures on individual members to conform and reach consensus that there is no realisticappraisal of alternative courses of action in a decision, and deviant, minority, or unpopoularviews are suppressed.