The Power Of Group Mentality

     What is groupthink? There is a simple definition for it, but is it truly that simple? The term groupthink refers to the inclination of group members to have the same opinions and beliefs; it frequently leads to mistakes. It often occurs without an individual being aware of it. Conflict is considered to be a harmful element when related to groups, but conflict is good when considering groupthink because it helps to eliminate the existence of a groupthink. The explanation sounds simple enough, but it is more complex than the description given.

Dismissing your own individual opinions to reach group consensus, now that’s negative peer pressure! Peer pressure will always be a problem and can affect anyone. I say that because no matter where you’re from or who you are, peer pressure is lurking about. Anytime you’re pressured to do something and your conscience is telling you not to do it, and you follow through with the task anyway, that is dismissing your opinion just to please other group members. Not wanting to be ostracized by others is the basis of conformity. Peer pressure doesn’t discriminate against race, nationality, or social class. It’s like a plague waiting to spread like wildfire throughout your school, your

Stephen King was quoted as saying, “The scariest moment is always just before you start.” A plane crash is bad enough; throw into the mix that the plane crash landed in a vast desert far away from anyone and anything. The team showed great cohesiveness in its ability to get through the groupthink and group shift behaviors. In this paper, groupthink and group shift behaviors will be discussed. This paper will cover points to show how through both behaviors the group will remain cohesive and put aside any individual needs and focus more on the needs of the group. Even though the situation will be tough, the team will plan, find harmony and put their brains together to find ways to survive.

An example of groupthink can be the terrorist attack of 911. Although it was a very tragic situation, Obama Bin Laden and his group planned it out. They came together and made a decision on something that they wanted to do. Osama Bin Laden was looked at as a idol by his people and he had several people that was high ranking in his culture to help him out. Their acts were evil and cowardly, but the power of groupthink was able to persuade people to carry out the attack. Groupthink exist in society everyday, the power of group thin is very strong. The more people that are contributing to a cause usually mean the better chance the goal will be completed. Groupthink is when people think and act alike in a particular group (Baumeister & Bushman, 2013, p. 524-525). Another example

After reading the essays “The Naked Citadel” and selections from “Hard To Get” by Susan Faludi and Leslie Bell, readers are presented with the various hardships young adults of both sexes face. While Faludi’s essay focuses on men and their hardships in a controlled environment like the Citadel to simulate how a “real man” should live in the real world, Bell’s essay focuses on women out in said real world and the different hardships they have to endure due to society’s standards of conduct. Both texts speak about sexuality, gender identity and expression and how they affect how one’s life will unfold depending on how different any of the three terms mentioned are from society’s traditionally accepted standards. By attempting to be a more original individual with strong characteristics and a unique personality, one should be aware that there will be challenges ahead for them, for people fear what they do not know. Society tends to ostracize and at times retaliate against those who choose to disregard gender roles. In addition, society prevents men and women from actualizing their potentials and achieving self-fulfillment by enforcing a strict set of gender norms. These gender norms leave individuals devoid of their humanity by demanding that they meet the extremes of many behavioral and sexual spectrums. Men are expected to act masculine, stoic, insensitive, etc. while women are expected to be conservative, feminine, charming, etc. without exception. With no in-between,

In “The Rise of the New Groupthink,” Susan Cain argues that working independently stimulates ingenuity. Some of the most innovative people are generally reserved (14).

The citadel students had a culture of having the extremes of one’s sexuality since one cannot do anything remotely similar to what could be considered a feminine trait and not be teased or picked on because of it. Speaking about a specific drag queen, one cadet said, “’You’re more of a woman than a woman is.” The drag queen went on to say, “I over exemplify everything a female is-my breasts, my hair, the way I hold myself” (Faludi,102). This is the complete extreme of femininity defining a gender by how one dresses or by personality traits. This is caused by subconsciously splitting a personality leading to extremes on either side of the spectrum as this is seen by the interpreted definitions of men and

1. There are many apparent symptoms of groupthink that are describe within the text. The signs that are clearly mentioned in the text are signs of closed-mindedness and group pressure. Signs of overconfidence are also demonstrated in the text although it may not be clearly stated as so. The members who signed up for the Spiritual Warrior retreat clearly had an “illusion for invulnerability” and a “belief in the inherit morality of the group”.

According to Cummings and Worley (1997) there is a five-phase process for managing change, including: motivating change, creating vision, developing political support, managing the transition, and sustaining momentum. Motivating change involves creating a work environment that embraces change and developing approaches to overcome any resistance to change. The general guidelines include: enlightening members of the organization about the need for change, expressing the current status of the organization and where it should be in the future, and developing realistic approaches to change.

As people, when confronted with a problem where a solution must be found, our ideal situation is to come up with the best possible one. To do this, we ideally gather the most knowledgeable, intelligent individuals into a group and attempt to derive the best solution to the problem. With the collection of these people, one would think that finding the best possible answer to the problem would be a rather simple task. However, what has happened in many situations is the complete opposite. Rather than finding the best possible solutions, many ideal, cohesive groups arrive at the worst possible answer largely due to problems in communication within the group. This is what we call the radical theory of

The idea of a “band mentality” has been around since before humans have existed. In chimpanzees, our closest common ancestor, the group follows a dominant male, while interacting among the group based on who they like or dislike. Early humans were separated into small bands of hunters for both protection and aid in killing prey. The most experienced hunter led the attack, and it was important to have people who accepted his opinion and listened to him. Humans, in small groups of friends or family, still show this sort of band mentality. They will interact based upon who shares their same interests and feelings about the other people in the group. This way of thinking changed dramatically

Gender Discrimination is a type of discrimination where basing on a particular person’s gender (or) sex a person is discriminated, majorly this type of discrimination is faced by women and girls.

Doris Lessing's essay Group Minds is a powerful synopsis of human nature’s attraction to groups. It has become a problem when people are not thinking for themselves, and Lessing illustrates an experiment that proves humans like-minded tendencies most often come in between ones own perceptions of reality. Lessing's essay begins by painting a picture modern western civilization and the popular belief of freedom. Later in the essay, Lessing explains the idea of free will as just an idea conceived by a group that most everyone has bought into. The actual concept of free will would mean free thinking and individual opinions but in paragraph 4 Lessing states “very few people are happy alone” (4) and if that means conforming to even some of the

As a human race, we function off of our surroundings. In today’s society, social pressure is a conflict that people face daily. Whether it be a young adolescent facing peer pressure for the first time, or just feeling obligated to go on a vacation because all of your friends are going. Positive or negative, operating as a group is in our everyday lives. Doris Lessing, known as the best female novelist, has a strong opinion on the subject of individuality and our nature of acting as a group. We thrive to act as individuals because we are aware of our individual freedoms, yet we form groups and think as several individuals in unison, rather than one individual operating independently. Self-individuality is important and pressed upon in the world today, and I believe that although functioning off of others is not in its entirety a negative thing, that we should continue to press the importance of being independent.

According to Cartwright & Zander (1968), a group may be defined as a “collection of individuals who have relations to one another that make them interdependent to some significant degree”. Other definitions state that a group is “two or more persons who are interacting with one another in such a manner that each person influences and is influenced by each other person (Shaw, 1981). Turner (1987) goes further to say that “a psychological group is one that is psychologically significant for the members, to which they relate themselves subjectively for social comparison and the acquisitions of norms and values…that they privately accept membership in and which influence their attitudes and behaviour”. Clark & Pataki reserve the term “group”