groupthink

"The man of integrity walks securely" Proverbs 10:9

A friend recently sent me this youtube video that humorously demonstrates how a well organized group of people can affect the perception of reality and create a new reality. When I was a college student a group of friends and I would play a variation of this game on an elevator. A group of four or five of us would get on an elevator and face the wrong direction, toward the back wall. Anyone who got on the elevator with us, especially if they were alone, would subsequently face the wrong direction with us.

We are all impacted by the perceptions of the people around us.

One can observe this kind of group behavior in almost any organization. It is consequently the reason you will hear about a board of directors, a church committee or staff or corporate planning team make decisions and set policy that drastically contradicts common wisdom.

I recall a meeting several months ago in which I was completely caught off guard by the (obviously) well planned and meticulously organized action of a group of people. It felt very much as if I was one of the only people in the room who was not in on the ruse. The result was very powerful. In fact, the video examples linked above are not far off from what I experienced emotionally.

Groupthink is a term coined by Irving Janis in his 1982 book, "Victims of Groupthink: Psychological Analysis of Policy Decisions and Other Fiasco's". It in, Janis concludes that groupthink is the result of a group not exploring all of it's options, but convincing itself of it's own reality.

The process in which well educated and rational people can come to obviously irrational decisions is of course much more complex. In his excellent blog on this subject, Dr. Denny Gunderson, who is both a clinical psychologist and a preacher, expands on this subject by concluding that there are really three different stages of groupthink:

1. Allegiance or dependence. An unhealthy allegiance to or dependence upon a leader who is seen as the authority on the subject.

2. Unilateral decision making. Either the leader or a group of insiders feels that they are the ones who should make the decisions for the group. After all, it is for the "good of the group".

3. Insulation. The group insulates itself from outside accountability and resists it at all costs. With insulation comes isolation. When a group isolates itself it is then very easy for deception to take root. Gunderson writes, "Should an inside member of the group dare question the validity of the group or its leadership, that person must be dealt with quickly in order to make clear that dissent will not be tolerated."

When the process of groupthink is complete, it is important that the group maintain it's sense of isolation by the use of propaganda. The propaganda is what fuels the deception.

My experience is that not even well intentioned, educated and faithful Christians are immune from the affects of groupthink.