What can people do to avoid a group of mob mentality (such as individuation or groupthink)?

Essay by fdavis81University, Bachelor'sA, May 2006

download word file, 2 pages 4.0

"Groupthink occurs when a homogenous cohesive group is so concerned with unanimity that they fail to evaluate all their alternatives and options (Groups, retrieved on 01/21/06)".

The are many problems with groupthink such as; the fear of not wanting to disagree with the group leader, or people just being too afraid to voice their on opinion on how to solve problems within the group. Some people are too afraid to speak their minds when they are in a group; especially if they are an inferior member of the group. In my research I found many ways to avoid groupthink and ways to help others voice their own opinion without feeling like they have just disagreed with someone who is higher ranking than they are.

There are many different ways to avoid a group mentality; one example is to allow the lowest ranking member of the group to speak first. This can help rid the fear of the boss is always right.

Also allowing the lowest member speak followed by the second lowest, third lowest and so on will stamp out the fear of having a different opinion from the top ranking person in the group. Another way to avoid groupthink is to have several different smaller groups, all with different leaders, within the large group work on the same objective or problem. This can give the leader of the organization many different opinions on how to solve problems. With this multitude of information the leader of the group can present to the group as a whole and narrow

down the solution from there. Another method to avoid individuation is to "invite outside experts or qualified colleagues to attend group meetings" (Plous, 204). The can encourage the people within the group to form their own opinion based on outside sources and...