Groupthink: what it is and how it influences us

Do you think you decide better when you are alone or when you are in a group? The researcher Irving Janis observed that when we are in a group we tend to make wrong decisions, and He called this phenomenon groupthink..

The formation of groups and decision-making in them have been widely studied phenomena in social psychology. We are going to know the main characteristics of group thinking, a concept that tries to explain the errors or biases that we make when we make group decisions.

• Related article: "What is social psychology?"

What is a group?

A group is a unit made up of a certain number of separate organisms that have a collective perception of the whole, and that they possess the capacity to act.

The group usually acts effectively together against its environment.

group polarization

Group polarization is a concept that we need to understand beforehand to understand what groupthink is. This appears in group processes, and consists of an accentuation of the initially dominant position due to group discussion.

Myers found this phenomenon in a wide range of contexts, such as stereotypes, prosocial and antisocial behavior, play, negotiations, etc.

Later, Janis spoke of groupthink as an extreme form of group polarization. Let's see what this new phenomenon consists of.

Groupthink according to Janis

Irving Janis (1972, 77) described groupthink by observing that many groups with a similar mentality (for example: councils, committees,...), ended up taking incorrect or irrational decisions due to the fact of belonging to one's own group. That is, the members of the groups influenced each other in such a way (or rather, their thinking) that they ended up making mistakes in their decisions.

Thus, groupthink appears when, in the decision-making process, a very cohesive or similar-minded group, is so conditioned by the search for consensus that his perception of reality deteriorates.

Characteristics

The 5 fundamental characteristics of groupthink are the following.

1. illusion of invulnerability

It is the belief shared by group members that nothing bad will happen to them as long as they stick together. It is believed that the group will not fail if it acts jointly or together.

2. uniformity pressure

It is the pressure to “be all the same”, which in turn causes four other symptoms:

2.1. Pressure on dissidents

Criticism directed towards the group or its way of acting is rejected. The greater the cohesion and relevance of the problem, the greater the rejection of the members of the group towards the nonconformist.

2.2. Self-censorship

Group members do not express doubts about the decisions the group makes.

23. illusion of unanimity

It consists of the tendency to overestimate the degree of agreement that exists among group members.

2.4. Appearance of the guardians of the mind

It occurs when members of the group try to maintain group orthodoxy (group norms) and for this report possible deviations, trying to protect the group from adverse information.

3. Rationalization

They are the justifications a posteriori, when it has already been decided, instead of a previous, careful and careful analysis of the problems that affect the group. That is, the group skips the analysis of the problem and replaces it with justifications resulting from their desires and motivations (conscious or unconscious).

4. Belief that the group is inherently moral

Group members exaggerately perceive their approaches as a group to be moral and righteous.

5. Outgroup stereotyping

you have a homogeneous, uniform and generally pejorative image of members of outgroups (the “other” groups). This image includes stereotypical ideas of the behavior and thought of the members of the outgroup.

• You may be interested in: "Stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination: why should we avoid prejudging?"

How is groupthink reinforced?

Groupthink is reinforced if a number of conditions are met:

• Let the group be highly cohesive.
• That it is deprived of other alternative sources of information.
• That the leader clearly supports a certain option.

Thus, these conditions promote a scenario where group discussions are characterized by attempts to rationalize among all; actions that are congruent with the option are taken, while discordant information is ignored or disqualified.

How is it reduced?

Some of the strategies to reduce groupthink are these.

1. Assign the critical evaluator role to all group members

It is a question of prioritizing the objections of the members of the group. The leader will have to be able to withstand criticism.

• Related article: "Group Psychology: definition, functions and main authors"

2. leader impartiality

Another strategy is that the leader maintains an impartial attitude when making decisions or supporting or not certain opinions.

3. open discussions

It is about encouraging open discussions, where all group members can speak freely, without pressure or censorship.

Bibliographic references:

• Hogg, M. (2010). Social psychology. Vaughan Graham M. Pan American.
• Marin, M. (2012). Social psychology of group processes. Pyramid.