Group Think Assignment

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University of Southern California *

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6321

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Communications

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Feb 20, 2024

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1 Groupthink To better understand the phenomenon of groupthink and what it consists of the group members must first distinguish what it means to be a part of a group. Kirst-Ashman describes a group as, at least two individuals coming together to fulfill a mutual purpose (Kirst-Ashman, 2014 p.78). Groupthink is a collaborative behavior between members of a group that chooses to disregard any potential issues or flaws that may prevent achieving a mutual goal. (2012) Psychologist Irving Janis stated eight symptoms indicate groupthink: the feeling of being untouchable or invulnerable, collective rationalization, inherent morality, stereotyping, direct pressure to conform, self-censorship, the illusion of unanimity, and mind guards. (2012) Janis stated for groupthink to exist all or most of the symptoms must exist for a diagnosis of groupthink. (Janis, 2008, p. 242) In groupthink moral judgment, reasoning, ethics, and creativity no longer hold value. Justifications are created in a manner to dismay or distract others of red flags and warnings to maintain high cohesiveness. (2012) The collaboration between individuals to prevent groupthink could be achieved by using Empowerment Theory. This theory focuses on guiding people towards achieving their goals by first empowering themselves to take control of their situation and to be proactively involved. As a group, the members should want to empower one another by holding all members accountable for understanding what the roles, tasks, and goals of the group are. (Krist-Ashman, 2014) Krist-Ashman breaks down the stages and tasks of group development. It is believed that groupthink will most likely occur in the beginning phases of group development. In the beginning stage, leadership is formed, and responsibilities are assigned. T he leader should be monitoring the work of the team members, encouraging them to give feedback. If team members are encouraged to participate in staff developments, dialogue and information discussed add to the group’s dynamic.

2 Communication barriers occur within a group due to effective communication limited. Janis originally defined groupthink occurs only when cohesiveness is high. It required the members to share a strong “we-feeling” of solidarity and desire to maintain relationships within the group at all costs. (Janis, 2008, p 237) Communication is key when working in groups and can cause uncomfortable environments, members should be able to bring forth ideas and make comments without the fear of retribution or humiliation. (2012) People are more susceptible to believing something “works” because the majority of participants desire to maintain relationships within the group; therefore, all groups have the possibility of falling into groupthink. Examples are the 2008 financial crisis, the Invasion of the Bay of Pigs, and the Challenger Disaster. There was evidence of flaws, there were red flags and warning signs in each situation; they were ignored to maintain the “we-feeling” of solidarity at all costs. Neither of the groups mentioned above is similar to one another, yet they were all diagnosed to have been affected by groupthink. (2012) The group which was created is best describes as a task and virtual team: it consists of members who were tasked to work together to complete weekly assignments, but the method of communication is electronic via email, Teams, and text messaging. They understand task functions, which are to pursue goal attainment and adaptation, including exchanging information, establishing plans, and evaluating progress toward goals while also working virtually via emails and text (Krist-Ashman, p. 89).

3 References A. (2012, April 8). Groupthink . Communication Studies. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from http://www.communicationstudies.com/communication-theories/groupthink Janis, I. L. (2008). Groupthink. IEEE Engineering Management Review , 36 (1), 36. https://doi.org/10.1109/emr.2008.4490137 Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2013). Human Behavior in the Macro Social Environment, 4th Edition (4th ed.). Cengage Learning.

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