Ever since you are of a young age, you are taught to work in groups and how to work in groups because throughout life you will always have to do some type of group work. Rather if it is in the classroom with the leaders of your class at school, in the office with the leaders and upper-level positions of your job, or if it is on an athletic team with all of your teammates you will eventually have to work in groups. This is where the term ‘groupthink’ comes into play. Group think is thinking as a group trying not to force your own individual opinions, biases, and creativity for sakes of the group. A mentality that says the group is more important than my individual self. The research conducted over this topic will give us a better understanding of groupthink and group decision making. This research will also argue and support if groupthink is said to be positive or negative according to many scholars. According to Richard West and Lynn H. Turner in their book called ‘Introducing Communication Theory Analysis and Application’ the definition of groupthink can be defined as: “… a way of deliberating that group members use when their desire for unanimity overrides their motivation to assess all available plans of action” (West & Turner, 2014, pp. 252). Irving Janis the man who coined the term groupthink and has done extensive research over the subject gives a bit of different but similar definition, which is defined as: “a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ striving for unanimity override their motivation realistically appraise alternative courses of action” (Harter, 2012, pp. 269). Most companies and organizations are heavily involved with groupthink when it comes to making critical decisions. The decisions are always made on behalf of the group’s best interests and not just one individual and that can sometimes be a negative factor as you will learn about later. Groupthink can be either a positive or negative influence to your organization depending on things are being handled and the outcomes of the final decisions that are made. First we will take a look at different articles that are peer-reviewed written by scholars that will support or show the negatives about groupthink and the bad things that it may bring to the table for your group. Followed up by more articles that will take a positive approach.
Almost always when groupthink is occurring it will negatively affect the final decision just because when working in a group you can not really voice ones opinion, you can only give your input and ultimately agree as one whole group on one decision. This affects things negatively because you feel pressured not to step out of your boundaries so you have to always remain loyal to the group even if you do not agree with the decision. As stated by James D. Rose in his scholarly article about groupthink, “… a group where loyalty requires each member to avoid raising controversial issues” (Rose, 2011, pp. 37). Rose stands firm in believing that feeling pressured into making a decision because you do not want to be the odd man out will almost always result in a bad decision. When you are making your decision based on how your group will feel about it rather than your own personal feelings and what may actually be right you are bound to make a bad decision, which the quote above can support.
Other researchers also state and make their case as to why groupthink can be negative. The Henningsen’s as well as Jennifer Eden talk about why it can be a negative in their article about groupthink. They all feel that if you are making a decision as a group and groupthinking was involved in your final decision, the decision you come up with will be inconsistent a lot of the time. Stated here by the researchers, “…argued that the concept of groupthink has become almost synonymous with bad group decisions” (Henningsen,