Groupthink

Holly Leonard

2/4/17

Prof. Young

Groupthink Blog

Groupthink

Groupthink is part of a decision making process everyone makes everyday. Most people, in a group, will go with whatever decision most other people go with. For example, if person A is with a group of people in which 95% of the group wants to go to the movies, chances are person A will say they want to go to the movies also even if they wanted to do something else. People make this decision to go with the group to avoid confrontation and being singled out.

Some people may have a very strong desire for something to the point that they will stray from groupthink in order to get that they want. An example that coincides with the book Friendswood may be Mayer Wallen who wants to build on the chemical dumping grounds because it will bring in more money for the town and more jobs, bringing up the economy; but Lee does not want this to happen. Lee’s daughter, Jess, passed away due to the effects from the chemical dumping; she does not want this to happen to all the workers or people moving into the future houses. Many other members of the town do not speak out with Lee or even agree with her because they do not want to become outcasts or be seen the way people see Lee. Groupthink has a very strong effect on opinions in groups of people. People will often go against their beliefs in a large group because they don’t want to be outcasted or looked at differently.

A real life example of going against groupthink for what was right could be Rosa Parks. She refused to give up her seat for a white man because of what she believed in. This relates to groupthink because most African-Americans at that time did not agree with the way they were being treated, but dealt with it to avoid confrontation. Eventually, people began to rise up against the matter and stood up for what was right.

Another good example could even be at a business meeting, everyone agrees on something but you oppose; you’re most likely going to refrain from voicing an opinion to avoid an argument or from certain people disapproving your stance. Groupthink can be good, or have a very negative effect. It is very important to have a personal outlook and voice it, there’s no right or wrong opinion.