How to act in the face of the group phenomenon

February 04, 2023

Is it true that the opinion of the majority influences our judgment?

Yes quite. This is why polls can influence an election. You will be more likely to vote for a leading candidate in an election, for example. Again, nothing is absolute, but social psychology has demonstrated this through numerous experiments. Groupthink definitely influences our choices, but it does not mean that the group determines our choices either.

You indicate in your book that groupthink can train us to do things that we wouldn’t have done individually. Is it because the majority influences our judgment?

In this case, it’s a little different. We are talking about a group of 4, 5 people, not the opinion of a majority. If for example I am asked to finance a company that is losing money, individually I would not do it, even if the money to be invested does not belong to me. But if we are 5 people around the table, discussing the possible benefits in 10 years, we may be led to make a more risky decision. Even if the probability that the company goes bankrupt is strong.

For what ? Because if it does go bankrupt, it’s not me who would be responsible (even if I have my share of responsibility), because I was not alone. We are then relieved of responsibility somewhere, because if we actually participated in the decision-making, we do not carry the project for all that. In summary, there is a disempowerment, because I was not alone in making the decision. It’s a very classic group phenomenon.

This can have serious consequences, especially when a young person finds himself in a group. He can become violent or be led to commit violence against his will?

That’s it. We were all together, it was not me who could have vandalized, damaged or caused damage, but it was all of us. Yeah, maybe I kicked it, but that’s all I did. It is the same process that I describe with the company and the decision-making: the young person in question would not have acted or taken the risk of acting like this if he had been alone.

So violence manifests itself especially when there is a group phenomenon?

Not exclusively. In case of individual violence, it is the fact of the characteristic of the individual. In collective violence, there is a ripple effect.

So, how to do ? How to prevent young people, groups of young people from having violent behavior carried by a group?

You have to individualize. For example, if you have a group of students in the class who are creating disorder, you should not challenge them or communicate with them as a group, but remind them that they are individuals. The solution, for example, is to address each of them separately. You are not addressing all of these students, because you would be addressing the group, but summoning each student one by one to reprimand you and even taking individual sanctions. In the end, whatever your method, it is essential to bring each student back to an individuality, to separate them from the group.

This is a strategy widely used by law enforcement, for example. Imagine that individuals occupy an institution, an establishment claiming a cause. To evacuate the premises calmly without creating an incident, the police, in their intervention, will seek to establish contact in order to individualize the people. For this, the police will seek to give names. They go looking for the leader, the presumed leader with the objective of speaking with a specific person.

From the moment the person gave her first name, the police won: they will make her realize that she is not there for the group, but for herself. The people who will have been appointed will not have extreme behavior, because they will have regained their individuality. I can guarantee you that this strategy centered on individualization works very well.

It sounds simple. Isn’t that the old motto: divide and conquer?

Yes it’s simple as long as you have an individualization strategy. This is not exactly the meaning of “divide and conquer” where the objective is to diminish the forces, and to sow differences in a group. You will have a split of the group into 2 or 3 other groups with differing opinions. But you are still dealing with a group where individualities can act in a group effect.

If we go back to our group of disruptors at the back of the class. As in my law enforcement example, just name each one and ask them individually to see you after class. Just that, just this act will restore each student to their individuality. Not only will they behave differently, but they will also realize that their actions weren’t very smart after all.

So the strategy to separate the disruptors is quite effective.

Yes ! Absolutely. Even if a student has a disruptive temperament, he will have less strength because he will face his responsibilities. The others having regained their individuality will not act in the same way. They will tend to be calmer.

But beware, it also depends on the personality of each student. If you have students who are restless, they will remain restless even outside of a group. The group effect concerns students who are normally rather serious who suddenly find themselves heckling when they are calm by nature.

For what ? Because he finds himself in a group. I go back to the beginning of what I was saying: the group effect leads you to do what you would not do individually. Again, it should not be said that a student is in a group that he will necessarily heckle. Of course not.

Can the reverse be true, namely: a student who is a little rowdy can become more serious, because he is in a serious group?

Theoretically yes, but for other group reasons. Here the group effect comes into play when there is risk taking. This risk taking you would not take it alone. Like the calm student: he would not take the risk of being punished or being singled out, of giving the image of a bad student. In a group he could say that ultimately it’s the group, not necessarily him. In the case of a serious group, there is really no risk taking. But there may be a positive effect of the group, but for other reasons.

Copyright – learnalearning.com / interview by Sophie Ravier – Unauthorized reproduction

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