Groupthink is referred to as a ‘concurrence-seeking tendency’, where people seek concurrence instead of making rational and calculated decisions. Groupthink mostly arises in groups which are cohesive and under situations when members are required to make decisions, they resort to imposing pressure on members to maintain unity within the group. It emerges when some members dominate the culture within the group up to the degree where other people’s opinions or ideas are disregarded. This might suggest that controlling members of the group might neglect other’s viewpoints or dismiss others while they are speaking or immediately adopt a negative attitude towards other people’s opinions.
Real-life Applications of the Theory
Law and Legal Settings
The dynamics within legal settings that affect the decision-making process and legal outcomes can also be better understood by applying the theory of groupthink. Groupthink may take different forms in legal settings including courtrooms and jury deliberations. During jury trials, members of the jury comply with the consensus to quickly achieve a unanimous verdict and change their opinion to maintain group cohesion. This homogeneity may result in a lack of careful consideration of the opposing viewpoints and the provided evidence.
Attorneys and judges who rigorously adhere to conventional standards or legal proceedings without questioning their applicability to particular cases may exhibit groupthink behaviour and may impede the advancement of the legal doctrine. It has been proven that members with a better education background and status are likely to have more influence on people of lesser status (York & Cornwell, 2006). Legal groups might also comply with traditional plans or strategies without questioning their effectiveness or taking novel viewpoints into account which may cause legal approaches to be less adaptable.
Legal institutions may foster a culture in which challenging the regime is not prioritised as much as adhering to the set norms and standards. This may in turn affect how decisions are made and how contemporary legal strategies are developed. Groupthink can also arise due to political pressures within bodies which influence legal decisions made by the government. The key decision-makers may follow the existing political ideologies and opinions, hence, compromising the pursuit of justice.
There might be hesitation to question misconduct and the behaviour of peers in investigations pertaining to professional ethics. This reluctance might be characteristic of the dynamics of groupthink in legal settings. If scholars conform to the existing theories of law and paradigms in legal academia without looking closely at alternative viewpoints, they may experience groupthink. The prospect of the growth of diverse and innovative legal studies might be hampered due to this phenomenon. Furthermore, Judges in appellate courts may risk participating in groupthink by seeking agreement without carefully considering alternative opinions and viewpoints which may impact how legal concepts are developed.
Social Media Platforms
With millions of people using social media every day, the phenomenon of groupthink can be seen occurring on many platforms quite frequently. This can occur in different ways such as users often participate in echo chambers, a platform which provides like-minded individuals the space to share their opinions and perspectives. This creates an environment where a specific opinion is reinforced and dissenting views are discouraged or reduced. This may cause the individuals within the echo chambers to be less exposed to diverse perspectives and beliefs inducing a situation of groupthink. The members strengthen each others’ opinions without critical evaluation which may lead to polarised opinions aligning users with extreme perspectives. This may, in turn, result in a lack of nuanced conversations and an exclusion of moderate viewpoints.
The majority of social media platforms have various viral and trending videos, songs, dance moves, hashtags, topics, etc. where users are drawn to participate and conform to these trends through discussions, sharing and posting content related to the trend without assessing the situation themselves. This may lead to the bandwagon effect coming into place, a phenomenon which talks about people doing things merely because other people are also doing it. This concept of trend conformity contributes to a sense of harmony where millions of users join a particular trend without considering alternative perspectives. Another aspect of this is the controversial posts or events that can set off a chain reaction of outrage on social media. Many users join in and quickly form opinions and judgements without verifying the information, assessing the situation or considering different viewpoints which can lead to groupthink.
In ‘Cancel Culture’, there is a shared disregard or boycotting of certain people or organisations for certain reasons. Users take part in this culture of cancelling without engaging in thoughtful conversations or thinking over additional possibilities. This often involves people being conformed to opinions prevailing in a group, stifling disagreement, and inhibiting assessment. Online bullying and harassment can also come under groupthink where group dynamics on several platforms can attack or target specific individuals or groups to comply with the existing negative attitude or sentiment without carefully considering alternatives or the the possible consequences of their behaviour. The pressure to conform and adopt negative views can make online harassment more prevalent without the users being open to the target’s perspectives.
The users might also be selectively engaging with material on social media that corresponds with their beliefs, reinforcing the idea of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias and groupthink can be identified by a social group's unwillingness to interact with different viewpoints and by its encouragement of preexisting ideas. Hence, groupthink can be seen on the internet in various situations.
Media Examples
The 12 Angry Men
The ‘12 Angry Men’, is a classic film which offers an interesting exploration of bias, social dynamics, and the idea of groupthink. The plot of the movie primarily focuses on a jury deciding whether a young man who is accused of murder is guilty or innocent. The groupthink phenomenon starts to come into light as the jury initially gives a quick verdict assuming that he is guilty. When the jury started its initial vote to begin deliberations, all jurors except one voted ‘guilty’.
The jurors were under tremendous societal and peer pressure to conform and reach a verdict relating to the majority opinion, in consideration of the seriousness of the crime. This pressure to conform and fit in with the majority is a key characteristic of groupthink. Some jurors in the movie displayed bias and stereotypical thinking because of the defendant’s socioeconomic background. Groupthink often dismisses the acknowledgement of prejudices and stereotypes within a group. This preconceived notion had a grave impact on their judgement.
The movie also shows the aspect of resistance to dissent where opposing views are dismissed or rejected when the juror who initially voted ‘not guilty’ faced hostility and opposition from the other jurors. They were dismissive of his opinions and perspectives and jumped to conclusions without thoroughly considering all the available evidence.
As the trial continued, some of the jurors switched their votes to avoid disagreement, and conflict and to sustain the impression of unanimity. Being another facet of groupthink, the illusion of unanimity arises when people blindly follow the decision made by the group to maintain group harmony. At first, some jurors just considered the evidence that supported their preconceptions about the defendant being guilty. They selectively focused on the information that proved him guilty and ignored the rest of the information that contradicted their preconceived notions. Such groupthink settings often result in biased and selective information processing.
This movie beautifully demonstrated how group dynamics may affect judgment and decision-making skills as well as the possible risks associated with blindly conforming to the group’s opinions and beliefs. When one juror raised concerns about the hasty decision by the group, it prompted the other group members to reconsider and reevaluate the evidence and information provided to them and conduct a more thorough and just deliberation process, which in turn challenged the jury’s tendency towards groupthink. The ‘12 Angry Men’ emphasised the value of critical thinking, independent thinking and individuality while dealing with group and peer pressure.
The Hater
“The Hater” is a Polish thriller movie that delves deep into the dark side of social media influence and manipulation. The protagonist, Tomasz, engages with echo chambers and online communities that hold similar ideologies and beliefs. These online communities reinforce individual’s beliefs and perspectives creating an environment of potential groupthink where opposing viewpoints are frequently marginalised or disregarded. As the protagonist himself partakes in influencing and manipulating public opinion on social media, the impact of forming communal beliefs becomes more profound. His ability to manipulate people on social media without any effort shows how susceptible online communities are to being swayed on the internet, looking at a form of groupthink where people may agree with the prevailing opinions of the majority without questioning them.
On the other hand, Tomasz himself faces pressure from both social and professional groups to align himself with the expectations of the online networks he interacts with. His behaviour is motivated both by the fear of exclusion and the desire to be accepted into the group which reflects the social pressures associated with groupthink and group dynamics. Tomasz only interacts with ideas and perspectives supporting his predispositions and prejudices on the online forums where he participates. One of the characteristics of groupthink is this selective exposure to certain kinds of information where individuals within the group or community choose to ignore perspectives or opinions which contradict their preconceived notions.
This movie looks at both perspectives of individuals manipulating social media and communities online while also emphasising the components of online echo chambers, group dynamics, and the potentiality of manipulation and compliance in virtual networks. This movie addresses how social media platforms can foster environments conducive to the phenomenon of groupthink and the behaviours associated with it mainly related to individuals blindly complying with the majority opinion and views without critically analysing them.
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