SOCIOL 41 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Arthur Schuster, Group Polarization, Groupthink
Sociology Department
Sociology 41
Small Group Dynamics
Professor Schuster
Course Code: 69150
Discussion Course Code: 69151
4 Units
No Prerequsites
Location: SSPA 1100
Notes
Lecture: Avoiding Groupthink
Avoiding Groupthink
● 1. Group leaders encourage dissent
● 2. Leaders remain impartial, not announcing a preference for any particular option or plan
● 3. Group divided into several independent subgroups
● 4. Hold a second chance meeting after tentative consensus has been reached
● 5. Appoint a “devil’s advocate”
Risky shift, Cautious Shift
● Risky shift
○ The tendency to advocate more risk following a group discussion
● Cautious shift
○ The move away from risk following a group decision
■ Occurs on issues when members are cautious and group discussion
actually causes members to become even more cautious than they were
initially
Group Polarization
● Group polarization occurs when group members shift their opinions toward a position
that is similar to but more extreme than their opinions before the group discussion
*** Group Structure Powerpoint ends
Rothwell Chapter 2
Groups as Systems
Primary Elements of a System
● Interconnectedness of parts
○ Ripple effects
○ Synergy
■ When group performance from joint action of members exceeds
expectations based on perceived abilities and skills of individual members
■ When group members work in cooperative, interconnected ways
Document Summary
Leaders remain impartial, not announcing a preference for any particular option or plan. Hold a second chance meeting after tentative consensus has been reached. The tendency to advocate more risk following a group discussion. The move away from risk following a group decision. Occurs on issues when members are cautious and group discussion actually causes members to become even more cautious than they were. Group polarization occurs when group members shift their opinions toward a position that is similar to but more extreme than their opinions before the group discussion. When group performance from joint action of members exceeds expectations based on perceived abilities and skills of individual members. When group members work in cooperative, interconnected ways. When group members working together produce a worse result than expected based on perceived abilities and skills of individual members. The whole is worse than the sum of its parts. As groups increase in numerical size, complexity increases.
