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Group dynamics and collective actions are intriguing because of the extremes to which they can drive people. For example, an individual risks his life to save a little boy from drowning, whereas another person is ready to sacrifice himself as a suicide bomber for a collective goal which is higher.
Many such demonstrations have happened in history like the crowd asking for the crucifixion of Jesus to global benevolence during the recent Olympic Games in Greece.

Constructive social change is unattainable without mass movement. Human rights, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Environmental Protection, etc., are a result of mass movements i.e., substantial engagement of people who crusaded for a common good, their individual interests taking a back seat. The irony of groupthink is that the individual hardly ever suffers from a sense of guiltiness. In spite of the risks and mass killings involved, members of the group feel that they are moving in the right direction. The war in Vietnam is another example of group stupidity.

The psychology of the group is not pathological. But an individual's self is depersonalized when he or she joins a social group. For instance, a suicide bomber's knowledge has become fully overwhelmed by the collective. Death by sacrifice becomes the utmost form of self-realization.

Causes of Group Think

Irving Janis said that there are three main causes: -

1) The higher the cohesiveness, the lesser the likelihood to raise questions.
2) Isolation of the group from outside experts.
3) Strong leadership, because the leader is likely to promote his/her own solution.

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* Contributed by: -
Dr. (Ms) G. Prageetha Raju,
Faculty Member (HR),
ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad.