Groupthink Bias

Time For Reflection

Remember those moments of internal disagreement with your friends, family, colleagues, boss during some important discussion/ brainstorming/ team meeting/ project presentation, when you begged to differ but still chose to remain silent, simply to appear aligned with the rest of them ?

Well, such a behaviour is quite common, where inspite of being a (rational) contrarian and fully  aware of the negative consequences/ repercussions of an irrational choice or decision, we still tend to approve of that choice or decision (by conforming to it) when taken in a group setting.

This type of behaviour is indicative of the existence of a bias known as "Groupthink".

Definition and Background

The word "Groupthink" was coined by William H. Whyte in 1952 in an article in Fortune Magazine.

Irving Janis, a social psychologist from Yale University is credited with studying the bias. He addressed it in his book in 1972.  As per Janis, Groupthink is defined as "a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive group, and when the members' striving for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action".

Decoding the definition further, Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon in which our need to conform with the group outdoes our need to act rationally and we tend to go with the groups' decision.

Why Does Groupthink Bias occur ?

There are many reasons for Groupthink to occur. Few of the reasons are

At group level, the reasons could be

• presence of an overbearing group leader
• internal/ external pressures on the group to take good and faster decision

At an individual's level, the reasons could be 

• strong desire to maintain the cohesiveness of the group
• intent to ensure harmony within the group
• to avoid playing the odd one out and being an outcast
• strong belief in the rules and morality of the group
• save time in decision making by avoiding voicing opinion, suggestion, idea, etc.
• not fully knowledgeable about the topic of discussion and therefore unsure about the rationality of one's own choice/ decision 

Indicators of Groupthink Bias

At the outset, the unanimity in decision making is the best indicator of Groupthink.

Further, Janis has identified eight different symptoms (indicators) of  Groupthink and they are as mentioned below:

• Illusion of invulnerability - complacency kicks in within the group leading to an attitude of over optimism and risk-taking. As a result of their earlier successes and great bonding within the group, the group starts to feel insulated from any dire consequence irrespective of the choice they make or the decision they take.

• Belief in inherent morality of the group - Because of the presence of extreme cohesiveness within the group, a false sense of belief about being morally correct always, creeps in which further leads to an illusion of rational decision-making.  

• Collective Rationalization - the false sense of self-belief prompts the group to overlook any warning signals whatsoever and this leads the group to never questions their existing assumptions or beliefs.

• Out-Group Stereotypes - The group members who do not share the same beliefs, ideas and opinions of the "in-group" are stereotyped as "out-group", considered to be outside the group

• Self-Censorship - Members who have any sort of fear or phobia withhold sharing their views, ideas or counter-arguments

• Illusion of Unanimity - Even when members prefer to remain silent instead of sharing their POV (point of view), this silence is construed as their acceptance of the group's decision

• Direct Pressure on Dissenters - The member who don't agree with the group's views are coerced and ultimately compelled to agree to the group's views.

• Self-Appointed "Mindguards" - There are members of the group who take up the task of filtering information so that no contradictory views and opinions reach the group 

Impact of Grouthink Bias

The key negative impacts of the bias are 

• Irrational decision-making in the absence of multiple perspective 
• Compromise on freedom of Individual thinking and expression 
• Operating in comfort zone
• No new perspective or POV (Point of View) encouraged 
• Adversely affects the morale and confidence of members who hold contrary views which further leads to dissatisfaction, frustration and stress
• Create internal friction as the members who hold a differing view may come together and create a mini-group within
• The group becomes overly obsessive and protective about their views and opinion which leads to insulation from others outside the group. This further impacts the group's intent and ability to collaborate 
• Absence of creative thought process

The key positive impacts 

• Decisions tend to get taken faster 
• The group never falters on the deadlines
• Strong cohesiveness which leads to lot of trust among group members

Real-life Examples of Groupthink

Human history is replete with many incidents that highlight the presence of Groupthink. Some of the popular ones are as mentioned below

• Pearl Harbour attack, 1941 - Inspite of intercepting warning messages related to Japan planning to attack, the U.S. army did not pay any heed to the signs and signals. The U.S. soldiers and the authority at Pearl Harbour engaged in groupthink. This resulted in faulty decision making by ignoring the evidence of imminent danger under the assumption that Japan won't attack because ultimately they would get defeated by U.S. army 

• Bay of Pig Invasion - In 1961, about 1500 exiled Cubans, trained and financed by CIA attempted an invasion of Cuba from sea in the Bay of Pigs to overthrow Fidel Castro. The attempt was a complete fiasco. It is believed that U.S. President Kennedy gave a go-ahead to the mission as a result of groupthink 

• Collapse of Swissair, 2001 - The collapse of Swissair a.k.a The Flying Bank, as it was fondly called, is attributed to 2 key symptoms - 1. Illusion of  invulnerability and 2. Belief in inherent morality of the group

• Collapse of Nokia and Blackberry as phone giants - Both Nokia and Blackberry were phone giants in their own segment but presence of symptoms like illusion of invulnerability, belief in inherent morality of the group and collective rationalization led to their fall.

Overcoming/ Addressing Groupthink Bias

Exploring objectives, alternatives and encouraging ideas hold the key to addressing the Groupthink Bias. Some of the ways it could be achieved are as mentioned below:

• Encourage discussion and debating within the group 
• Implement multi-perspective approach to decision-making/ problem solving through tools like "Devil's Advocate" and "Six Thinking Hats". These tools can bring about critical evaluation aspect in decision making
• Conformity could be outdone by inviting members first to share their views and opinions prior to the sharing of views/ opinions by the leader 
• To invite an impartial opinion, every group member should discuss the group's ideas with someone trustworthy outside the group 
• Leader should be absent from many meetings to avoid influencing the decision-making by group members
• Experts from outside be invited to ensure an impartial assessment of the discussion during meetings.
• Encourage creative and critical thinking in the group
• Creating mini-groups during decision making helps capture all the relevant viewpoints

Inclusivity always pays rich dividends !