What is groupthink? Give some examples.

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What is groupthink? Give some examples.



When we have unchecked group polarization, we can end up with groupthink. Groupthink is the mode of thinking that people engage in when trying to reach agreement (particularly in a cohesive group). This way of thinking can become so dominant that it tends to override reason, and the consideration of reasonable alternative courses of action.

Definition:

Groupthink: the mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence seeking become so dominant in a cohesive group that tends to override realistic appraisal of alternate courses of action.

As with group polarization, there are many examples of groupthink in our society. A good example is the US and British involvement in the Iraq war. In January of 2011 the British Parliament released a report based on a series of investigations into why the British became embroiled in the Iraq war.


It became clear that the information they relied upon to get involved in the war (i.e. the presence of weapons of mass destruction) was flawed. Why did people believe this information? In retrospect (but beware of the hindsight bias) we can say they should have known this information was flawed. But they did not.

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