HUMA 1745 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Group Polarization
1 May 2018
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HUMA 1745 Chapter 1 Notes – Summary
Introduction
Group shift or Group Polarization
• There are differences between group decisions and the individual decisions of group
members.
• What appears to happen often time in groups is that the discussion leads members
toward a more extreme view of the position they already held.
• Conservative types become more cautious, and more aggressive types take on more
risk.
• The group discussion tends to exaggerate the initial position of the group because
participants have engaged in group shift, a phenomenon in which the initial positions of
individual group members become exaggerated because of the interactions of the
group.
• Group polarization is a special type of groupthink.
• A group’s polarized deisio reflets the doiat deisio-making norm that
develops during discussion.
• Whether the shift i the group’s deisio is toward greater autio or ore risk depeds
on the dominant pre-discussion norm.
• Several explanations have been offered to account for the shift toward polarization in a
group.
• It has been argued, for instance, that the discussion makes members more comfortable
with one another, and, thus, more willing to express extreme versions of their original
positions.
• Another argument is that the group diffuses responsibility.
• Group deisios free ay sigle eer fro aoutaility for the group’s fial hoie,
so greater risks can be taken.
• It’s also likely that people take o extreme positions because they want to demonstrate
how different they are from the out-group.
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