Groupthink is a psychological occurrence that transpires when a group of people makes ridiculous and dysfunctional decisions stimulated by the hindrance of dissenting. The concept affects the decisions made by a group because a given intention motivates premature agreement since members value coherence and harmony (Janis, 2015). Thus, people refrain from expressing their disagreements to be in line with goals of a group. According to Walsh (1989), groupthink is influenced by several factors such as increased anxiety due to the pressure of time, stress from authoritative leadership, limited options to consider, and interconnectedness of groups.
Nonetheless, groupthink can be avoided by allowing groups to make decisions as teams and choosing a leader who is flexible and ready to implement new ideas. In addition, debate and brainstorming should be encouraged to recognize possible outcomes of each decision. Lastly, to overcome the issue of cohesion within the group, it is important to include individuals with different perspectives (Janis, 2015). Thus, those aspects would ensure that not all suggestions made by the influential group members would be accepted.
Being in a group can change peoples’ behavior since it makes them feel they are not responsible for their actions. Deindividuation occurs when individuals lose the sense of identity (Paulus, 2015). Most people tend to change their behavior and usually stay away from violence to avoid blame. However, under the influence of a crowd, individuals tend to become aggressive. Deindividuation may lead to positive behaviors among people by refraining from aggression. People in a group usually behave differently since the individual responsibility diffuses in numbers (Paulus, 2015). To control the behavior of a crowd, one should let the members realize that their conduct will be judged
References
Janis, I. L. (2015). Groupthink: The desperate drive for consensus at any cost. Classics of Organization Theory, 161-168.
Paulus, P.B. (2015). Psychology of group influence. New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Walsh, H. E. (1989). Groupthink. Rapidan, VA: Harland Publications.
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