Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Problems with Groupthink within the Mormon Church

Groupthink is a concept that was identified by Irving Janis that refers to faulty decision-making in a group. Groups experiencing groupthink do not consider all alternatives and they desire unanimity at the expense of quality decisions."[1] (http://www.abacon.com/commstudies/groups/groupthink.html)[2] (http://www.groupthinkfilm.com/)

Groupthink is also defined as a "phenomenon wherein people seek unanimous agreement in spite of contrary facts pointing to another conclusion."[3] (http://www.groupthinkfilm.com/)

It is said that groupthink "occurs when groups are highly cohesive and when they are under considerable pressure to make a quality decision."

His eight symptoms indicative of groupthink:


1. Illusion of invulnerability
2. Unquestioned belief in the inherent morality of the group
3. Collective rationalization of group's decisions
4. Shared stereotypes of outgroup, particularly opponents
5. Self-censorship; members withhold criticisms
6. Illusion of unanimity (see false consensus effect)
7. Direct pressure on dissenters to conform
8. Self-appointed "mindguards" protect the group from negative information

His seven symptoms of a decision affected by groupthink:


1. Incomplete survey of alternatives
2. Incomplete survey of objectives
3. Failure to examine risks of preferred choice
4. Failure to re-appraise initially rejected alternatives
5. Poor information search
6. Selective bias in processing information at hand (see also confirmation bias)
7. Failure to work out contingency plans

Social psychologist Clark McCauley's three conditions under which groupthink occurs:

* Directive leadership
* Homogeneity of members' social background and ideology
* Insulation of the group from outside sources of information and analysis

What to do about it


I remember speaking with a BYU professor about this problem, I asked him what the church is doing to prevent these groupthink conclusions from taking place; he didn't have an answer for me, and I'm still wondering why the church, byu, and my local ward don't take measures to prevent it from happening.

I think these following traits are some of the most telling within the church.

5. Self-censorship; members withhold criticisms
6. Illusion of unanimity (see false consensus effect)
7. Direct pressure on dissenters to conform
8. Self-appointed "mindguards" protect the group from negative information

If groupthink is common knowledge, why does the church continue to promote these traits that encourage it?

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