Groups are vital and influential they give people a sense of belonging because they tolerate us and prompt us not to disregard our Marxism. All individuals seek to pursue their own, individual goals, yet they are also part of bigger common units that pursue common, collective results. The power of groups is undeniable, even though political experts supervise no instances to complain about the growing estrangement of persons from small organized personal components that formerly connected them steadily to culture at large. Their relative’s localities, work teams, groups, and even the impulsively shaped groups like my street-corner humanitarians or those who research groups have faith in the intricacy and reliability of persons’ social lives (Whyte, 1989).
Groups are very powerful mainly because they give people the courage to undertake tasks that they might not have been confident enough to take on their own. Groupthink is a mental occurrence that takes place in a group whereby the wish for synchronization or conformity in the group leads to a dysfunctional or an unreasonable decision-making process. Team members work hard to reduce disagreements through reaching consensus on issues quickly without critically evaluating any other options through enthusiastically overturning uncooperative perspectives, and by separating themselves from external sways (Janis, 1971).
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In the Asch and Milgram experiments, people tend to lose their will to think for themselves when in a group, in the case of the Asch experiment people fear that deviating from the group will make their opinions or answers wrong. They forget that sometimes original thinking is the best way to go. The influence of a group tends to be stronger than from an individual. In the case of Milgram people fear telling authorities when a task is not right for fear of victimization or sometimes people are not confident with themselves and their opinions. The views from a group of individuals destabilize an individual, and sometimes they find themselves following the majority without knowing their way yet was the right way (Milgram, & Gudehus, 1978).
Groupthink obliges persons to restrain from highlighting contentious issues or another way out; this means the individual lose the power to think for themselves, their individuality, and inventiveness. Conformity leads to dysfunctional group dynamics where the team members get the illusion that they have made the right decision like in the Asch and Milgram experiments (Milgram, & Gudehus, 1978).
When people in a group conform they lose their sense of thinking on their own, they have to seek group approval before making any decision which is not always the right way to go. What group think is some form of peer pressure because members can be influenced to do harmful actions because they want approval of other members so as to fit in (Whyte, 1989). Actions like bullying are sometimes affected by groupthink when most members approve such an action, it becomes a norm within the group, therefore bullying other students becomes part of the team's identity hence in the member's eyes it is not wrong.
The best way to prevent people from doing harmful actions in groups is to discourage conformity when people feel empowered to air their opinions without being shut down; it encourages creativity, rationality in decision making and even appreciation of individuality. Conformity is harmful because it creates a unanimity pressure which pushes members to ignore realist alternatives even when they are readily available. Conformity is sometimes a good thing because it compels people to participate in group matters, therefore when the agenda is geared towards growth conformity is crucial (Whyte, 1989). The best way to ensure compliance works for the greater good is for a group to realign its objectives and agendas because if the programme is geared towards growth, then members will be airing opinions for the greater good of each member and the group.
References
Janis, I. L. (1971). Groupthink. Psychology today, 5(6), 43-46.
Milgram, S., & Gudehus, C. (1978). Obedience to authority .
Whyte, G. (1989). Groupthink reconsidered. Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 40-56 .
