![]() While the US Senate drafts authorizing, appropriations, and entitlement legislation to represent and protect the diverse interests of the United States people, the process of groupthink directly counters the organization’s goal in giving a voice to all citizens equally. An example of groupthink that has more large-scale implications could be that of the United States Senate, since Senators are expected to vote in front of other members in ways that other Congressional representatives are not. To prevent groupthink from occurring, it is important to understand these dimensions and the factors that enable the process. For a decision-making process to be considered defective, it must fulfill one of four dimensions: (1) failure to create contingency plans, (2) lack of information search, (3) biased assessment of costs and benefits, and (4) incomplete consideration of all decision options (Baron, 2005). The danger of groupthink is pervasive in these contexts, where the prioritization of solidarity and disregard for personal opinions could result in poor decisions detrimental for the group’s members and non-members.Ī poor or defective group decision influenced by groupthink is characterized by a failure to consider other, more favorable alternatives before reaching a conclusion (Baron, 2005). These psychological concepts such as groupthink have consistently been applied to the realm of politics in attempts to understand the trends of large-scale social movements (Walker, 2002). Furthermore, large-scale and high-stakes groups such as the United States Senate, jury panels, Boards of Directors, and the United Nations are all examples of groups in charge of decisions that have widespread consequences. Small-scale groups such as sports teams, families, and even students enrolled in the same class make decisions on a daily basis. In modern society, a majority of decisions are highly dependent on groups. Since then, this theory has been frequently applied to other poor group decisions, including political incidents like the Bay of Pigs and scientific mistakes like the Challenger (Aldag & Fuller, 1993 Hogg & Hain, 2000). In 1972, Irving Janis, a research psychologist, coined the term “groupthink” to refer to a phenomenon that occurs when members of a group prioritize unanimity over a realistic appraisal of the situation at hand.
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