AFM311 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Groupthink, Group Cohesiveness, Stereotype

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Accounting & Financial Management
• Course: AFM311
• Professor: Krista Fiolleau

Document Summary

Groupthink: the compromise of appropriate decision making in groups because of a desire to maintain group cohesiveness and conformity pressure. Cohesiveness: feeling of solidarity, striving towards concordance rather than the best decision. Rationalization: focusing on past success as a guarantee of future success. Leads to downplaying contradictory information and closed minds. Stereotyping: perceiving outside opinions as overly critical and out to get them". Self-censorship: willingness to devalue our own unspoken ideas when they are in conflict with the known values of the group. Direct pressure: the threat of ridicule and feeling that dissent against group opinion is unacceptable. Mind-guarding: preserving the group conformity by suppressing evidence or conflicting information. Illusion of unanimity: the illusion that everyone is on the same pag e and everyone agrees with the final decision. Avoid insulating the group from outside criticism.