REPLY

A minimum of 100 words each and References Response (#1 – 6) KEEP RESPONSE WITH ANSWER

Make sure the Responses includes the Following: (a) an understanding of the weekly content as supported by a scholarly resource, (b) the provision of a probing question. (c) stay on topic

1. This whole groupthink thing reminds me of kids who want to play a game, all the kids have their own game in mind but the game that is usually chosen is picked by the most dominant one in the group.  I once had a boss who made a comment that this was how she determined her leaders of the group.  My former boss would throw suggestions out and of course, no one responded and she would choose a team leader by the ones who chose to respond to her suggestions.  I don't think that this is a fair way but I always make the remark, if you snooze you loose, what I mean by that is if you miss your opportunity to speak up and say something then you miss that chance and time runs out.  What other places have you seen groupthink at its best?

2. Group think is the idea of making decisions based on what is right for the group as a whole rather than what is best for one’s self. Although group think can restrict opinions of the members, it often is not actively done, but subconsciously to reduce group tension, while increasing cohesion and helping to quickly reach a decision. An example of groupthink can be trying to decide where to eat with friends. You want sushi but don’t mention it and suggest a place you know everyone else will enjoy to avoid the chance that time will be wasted arguing about places to eat. Critical factors leading to group think are peer pressure, complacency and self-censorship. One way to reduce group think is to not being satisfied with the views of the group if they are not in line with your own ideals. Another way of reducing group think is to not give in to peer pressure and stating your opinions openly.

3. There are several examples of detrimental decisions made by groupthink that are provided in our book include Kennedy administration’s decision to deposit a group of CIA-trained Cuban refugees on the beaches of Cuba’s Bay of Pigs without providing air cover to foster the overthrow of Fidel Castro’s regime, the decision to increase the number of American soldiers in Vietnam made by the Johnson administration, deciding the extra precautions were not needed at Pearl Harbor, and ill-fated launches of space shuttles (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2019). Groupthink affects the decisions made by the group by the members being focused on social pressures to reach a consensus rather that being devoted to the issues at hand (Gilovich, et al., 2019). Some of the critical factors believed to lead to group think include shallow examination of information, narrow consideration of alternatives, and a sense of moral superiority, and self-censorship (Gilovich, et al., 2019). This is especially true if the group has a strong leader, people may feel less inclined to speak up or share opinions. In order to reduce groupthink, I think that open communication should always be encouraged, everyone should feel that they are able to express their ideas an opinions. If there is a strong leader, perhaps they could hold off on letting their ideas or preferences known at the beginning of the discussion so that people don’t conform to the idea without sharing their own or could even excuse themselves from the discussion at times to give people the freedom to discuss (Gilovich, et al., 2019). Outside sources and expert opinions should always be welcome, weaknesses should always be brought to attention, and the plan should be thoroughly evaluated.

4. After giving this some thought. I personally don’t really belong to groups like that. I am in a dance club group for my girl’s dance class, family groups, and a work at home group. Which turns out as essential and optional gatherings as primary and secondary groups. In these circumstances, I have by and by felt deindividuation and experienced it when I was another worker with my new job at home, and went with what the gathering needed to do as I didn't have satisfactory self-assured aptitudes and inspiration to voice a conclusion . While sorting out a family work, there have been circumstances where less and inconsistent exertion have been placed into assignments, while working in a gathering when contrasted with working alone. In the working environment, I have encountered social assistance by and large where a program could be actualized, and I could be increasingly profitable when working in bunches when contrasted with working alone

5. I actually struggled a little with this question because I really stick to myself and didn’t consider to really be a part of any group, other than my family. Any groups that I am a part of seem to be rather brief. For example, when my son was in football, I suppose I was in a group of football parents. I work seasonally, so when I am working, I would consider the other servers and I to be a group. Other than that, I don’t really think I am part of any group. Of the three terms deindividuation, social loafing, and social facilitation, I can identify most with social facilitation. Although I am sure that I have experienced deindividuation, I cannot personally think of any experiences that I have been involved in off the top of my head. The closest thing to social loafing, exerting less effort on a group task when individual contributions can’t be measured (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2019), that I can think of is situations where I have tried to help my fiancé and his friends move something heavy and notice that I’m not doing much of the work, unlike I would be if I were doing it alone. However, I typically just move on to another task if my help is inefficient or unnecessary. However, I can think of several social facilitation examples that I have experienced. For example, I used to be in track and the arousal from the presence of others definitely helped my performance. With that being said, when I have attempted to learn something new, such as piano, I notice that I do much better when I am alone than I do when somebody is listening.

6. I belong to many groups. Jiu Jitsu group, Parent of a youth wrestler and youth football player, firefighter, Paramedic, and student. In the fire service you see social loafing, deindividualization, and social facilitation. Social loafing is seen on group drills on the fire ground or cleaning the station. If that individual is not being watched specifically they will not put out as hard or work as hard when the rest of the crew is. Deindividualization occurs when new guys/girls come into the service. They are told their opinion doesn't matter and to learn the agencies way of operating. I don't agree with this but it seems to be the standard. In doing so we shut the individual down and don't learn from them or allow them to feel open and free to communicate and teach.Social facilitation has occurred when I've been on a stressful call and another medic shows up and makes the call worse by becoming worked up and "spazzy." It ends up distracting me more than if I was alone or with another calm medic.