What Is Groupthink?

A. What is Groupthink?

- A term studied by social psychologist Irving Janis (1972), occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment” . Groups affected by groupthink ignore alternatives and tend to take irrational actions that dehumanize other groups.

B. When Does This Occur?

A group is especially vulnerable to groupthink when its members are similar in background, when the group is insulated from outside opinions, and when there are no clear rules for decision making.

C. What Are the Symptoms?

• Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.

• Rationalising warnings that might challenge the group's assumptions.

• Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.

• Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, disfigured, impotent, or stupid.

• Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of "disloyalty".

• Self censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.

• Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.

• Mindguards — self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.

D. Avoiding Groupthink

• Group should be aware of causes and consequences of Groupthink.

• Leader should be neutral when assigning a decision making task to the group, withholding all preferences and expectations.

- This will be effective if the leader consistently encourages open inquiry.

• Leader should give high priority to airing objections and doubts,