No One Cried For Help: The Integration of Groupthink into Modern Rape Culture

Rape symbolizes lost innocence. Many young females increasingly endure sexual violence at the hands of multiple male assailants. Despite the common coupling of group dynamics and rapes, little evidence proposes Irving Janis’s theory of groupthink as one plausible explanation. This paper argues that the two concepts are related; groupthink needs to hold a more prominent position within the sexual violence literature. A case in the small town of Steubenville, Ohio provides the backdrop for investigating how groupthink impacts instances of gang rapes. Integration of the scholarly literature available on groupthink and sexual violence establishes the basis of this research. Janis’s groupthink model implements symptoms and features as criteria for distinguishing what constitutes an unhealthy group interaction. Steubenville reveals the presence of several such components, therefore reinforcing the assertion that groupthink does influence the interaction among members of a gang rape. New knowledge in this area of study encourages the development of preventative programs that help prevent this type of group activity from forming. Such improvements may aid in decreasing the prevalence of these gang rapes

Rational Groupthink

We study how long-lived rational agents learn from repeatedly observing a private signal and each others' actions. With normal signals, a group of any size learns more slowly than just four agents who directly observe each others' private signals in each period. Similar results apply to general signal structures. We identify rational groupthink---in which agents ignore their private signals and choose the same action for long periods of time---as the cause of this failure of information aggregation

Do You Think Your Group Thinks?

“Do You Think Your Group Thinks?” An Examination of the Relationship between Groupthink and Small Group Type The intent of our research was to analyize the six main groups in our culture and to determine which group, if any, suffers from groupthink more than the others. Groupthink is defined as “a strong concurrence-seeking tendency among members within a group that leads to a deterioration in the decision making process.” There are six main types of groups, primary groups, social groups, educational/theraputic groups, decision making/problem solving groups, work groups and mediated communication groups. A literature review was conducted on previous studies about various aspects of small group and groupthink research. In 1972, Irving L. Janis studied political disasters and developed “groupthink theory”. Eight symptoms were developed to assess group think. We determined that surveys were the best, and most efficient way to calculate these queries. Entitled, “Group Interaction Survey” our group composed a survey which consists of twelve close-ended (yes or no) questions. Each question was designed to detect one of the eight symptoms of groupthink Janis outlined. The purpose of asking these surveys was to gauge what groups are more susceptible to groupthink. Twenty surveys were passed out to each group totalling 120 surveys. According to our research, determined by the survey, primary groups had the highest amount of groupthink. Of the people we surveyed 55% of the answers indicated group think. Problem solving groups had the lowest amount of accumulated groupthink with an outcome of only 40% of the answers indicating groupthink. There are other ways the study could have been conducted, several other factors that could have been considered such as a wider variety of ages, greater number of surveys, or wider geographical area covered. Other methods could have been used as well to evaluate each individaul symptom

Groupthink as Communication Process, Not Outcome

A bias of groupthink research is that it primarily examines group decisions that are viewed as catastrophic failures, such as the Bay of Pigs fiasco. An alternative approach focuses on groupthink as a faulty communication process rather than defining it by negative outcomes. Taking such an approach, this paper briefly explores some potential examples of decisions that may have involved groupthink communication processes but either had ambiguous outcomes or succeeded in accomplishing their goals. The analysis suggests the need to explore the communication processes that result in groupthink while recognizing that the outcomes may be negative, ambiguous, or even positive

Why Empirical Studies of the Groupthink Model have Failed

The theory of groupthink has been highly beneficial in the study of how groups make decisions. It has permeated almost every field containing decision making groups. Despite its popularity, there has been a surprising lack of empirical support for the model. It is the aim of this paper to suggest a possible explanation for the current state of groupthink research. First the groupthink model is described briefly, followed by a look at several selected empirical and case studies of groupthink. A potential reason for the dearth of empirical is then proposed along with a suggestion for future groupthink research

Gender Diversity as the Antidote to ‘Groupthink’ on Corporate Boards

Gender diversity on corporate boards has become a point of emphasis, to the exclusion of all other forms of diversity. This paper analyses whether board gender diversity might help boards overcome groupthink (i.e. the failure of board members to consider alternatives to the dominant view when making decisions). This is a significant question because the board is reponsible for governance of the company and groupthink is often cited as a hurdle to effectively performing this role. Thus, the paper first examines the role of the board, board decision-making processes and the problem of groupthink, and subsequently, the potential of gender diversity to overcome groupthink. It concludes that gender diversity on corporate boards might help overcome groupthink so long as the women directors are also independent and bear ‘outsider’ status. However, other forms of diversity like race, education, tenure, professional background etcetera might offer the same benefits and thus should not be overlooked

The Dynamics Of Groupthink: The Cape Coral Experience

This research provides a case study and review of Groupthink literature. Groupthink theory was originated in1972 by Irving Janis and remains an area of scholarly debate. The primaryobjective of this paper is to research the effects of Groupthink in terms of beinga positive or negative force in business. Intodays dynamic business environment, many organizations are composed ofstakeholders with different objectives and different standards of what isethically right and wrong, and all environments have become diversified. Therefore, it takes an organization whichfosters effective leader involvement to ensure that employees maintain apositive outlook toward the organization. Research indicates that groupmentality can be positive or negative depending on leader involvement. This research compares and contrasts the effects of Groupthink utilizingliterature and a case example from the City of Cape Coral, Florida