SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: GROUPTHINK 2
Applied Final Project
Assignment PSYC 321 7380
Social Psychology
Social Psychology: Groupthink
Social psychology, as a subdiscipline of psychology, gives us a better insight into human
behavior. It helps us understand individual behaviors in relation to a given social context. Social
psychology is defined as the scientific branch that seeks to understand the nature and causes of
individual behavior in social situations (Janis, 2015). The primary focus is to gain a deeper
understanding of how people influence others to behave the way they do in a given social context
(Lee, 2018). Social psychologists, therefore, seek to understand the factors that push us to
behave in a particular way in the presence of others. It closely examines the conditions under
which certain feeling or actions are generated. Social psychology primarily seeks to understand
the construction of these feelings, intentions, beliefs, goals or thoughts (Phan, 2018). The central
aspect of this discipline is in the cooperation of psychological factors in influencing interaction
with others. This discipline tackles different topics including self-concept, social cognition,
social loafing, cognitive dissonance, prejudice and discrimination as well as groupthink. This
paper will concentrate on the concept of groupthink.
Groupthink
The American Psychology Associations defines groupthink as a “strong concurrence-
seeking tendency that interferes with effective group decision making (APA).” Groupthink is a
psychological phenomenon present within a group. In most instances, the desire for harmony or
conformity in the group leads to irrational decision-making (Hastie, 2015). Groupthink is
Page 2 of 12
, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: GROUPTHINK 3
generally seen in natural group set-ups within a community. An example to illustrate this
includes the different viewpoints regarding political views. Some people align with conservative
beliefs whereas other praise liberalism. There are different preferences for different people, for
instance, there are a group of people who firmly believe in teamwork. Others believe in
Page 3 of 12
Applied Final Project
Assignment PSYC 321 7380
Social Psychology
Social Psychology: Groupthink
Social psychology, as a subdiscipline of psychology, gives us a better insight into human
behavior. It helps us understand individual behaviors in relation to a given social context. Social
psychology is defined as the scientific branch that seeks to understand the nature and causes of
individual behavior in social situations (Janis, 2015). The primary focus is to gain a deeper
understanding of how people influence others to behave the way they do in a given social context
(Lee, 2018). Social psychologists, therefore, seek to understand the factors that push us to
behave in a particular way in the presence of others. It closely examines the conditions under
which certain feeling or actions are generated. Social psychology primarily seeks to understand
the construction of these feelings, intentions, beliefs, goals or thoughts (Phan, 2018). The central
aspect of this discipline is in the cooperation of psychological factors in influencing interaction
with others. This discipline tackles different topics including self-concept, social cognition,
social loafing, cognitive dissonance, prejudice and discrimination as well as groupthink. This
paper will concentrate on the concept of groupthink.
Groupthink
The American Psychology Associations defines groupthink as a “strong concurrence-
seeking tendency that interferes with effective group decision making (APA).” Groupthink is a
psychological phenomenon present within a group. In most instances, the desire for harmony or
conformity in the group leads to irrational decision-making (Hastie, 2015). Groupthink is
Page 2 of 12
, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: GROUPTHINK 3
generally seen in natural group set-ups within a community. An example to illustrate this
includes the different viewpoints regarding political views. Some people align with conservative
beliefs whereas other praise liberalism. There are different preferences for different people, for
instance, there are a group of people who firmly believe in teamwork. Others believe in
Page 3 of 12
