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“Bipolar groupthink”: Assessing groupthink tendencies in authentic work groups
Author(s) -
Rosander Michael,
Stiwne Dan,
GranstrÖM Kjell
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9450.00060
Subject(s) - psychology , social psychology , working group , construct (python library) , computer science , operating system , programming language
Research on regressive group processes such as Janis’ (1982) “groupthink” phenomenon has rarely focused on work groups in authentic settings. In this study, teams from six different organisations ( n =308) were studied by using a groupthink questionnaire constructed in accordance with the symptoms of groupthink described by Janis. It was hypothesised that groupthink could be described as a bipolar construct identifying either an omnipotent or a depressive variant of a group’s delusions about its own and other groups’ features. The questionnaire showed reasonably good reliability as a whole and a factor analysis identified three factors in line with the proposed theoretical model in which the two different types of groupthink can be distinguished. We propose that any group might have a tendency or predisposition to react in either of the two directions during provocative circumstances. The six different organisations exhibited different types of groupthink to a varying degree. A religious sect was the one most characterised by omnipotent groupthink, while a technological company and a psychiatric team seemed to be the ones with most features of depressive groupthink.