Causes of Groupthink
When an organisation has a high degree of cohesion, more conformation with its goals becomes the norm for its members. As a result, the difference between individual thought and dissent dies, leading to groupthink bias. It might be due to a variety of factors, including group members’ attitudes or leadership styles. However, psychologists studying groupthink discovered certain well-known causes.
1. Group Separation : In most cases, this phenomena affects groups that have become fully isolated from the outside world. The lack of outside criticism causes the group to slip towards groupism.
2. Popular and Rigid Leadership : Popular and rigid leadership plays a significant role in promoting such groupism through controlled debates in favor of their thoughts or perspectives. In short, it prevents members from expressing their thoughts in order to combat groupism.
3. Judgment Stress: If a group does not enable its members to make acceptable decisions based on their individual needs and views, and it pushes group to enter groupism. This happens because making appropriate decisions in a short amount of time is impossible. As a consequence, members feel obligated to obey the group’s collective decisions rather than individual decisions.