Self-paced
P1
In principle, a cohesive group—one whose members generally agree with one another and support one another's judgments—can do a much better job at decision making than it could if it were noncohesive. ███
intro topic ·
Cohesive group can have better decision-making than non-cohesive group
Cohesive group = members generally agree with each other and support each other's judgments.
Causal mechanism ·
Group members more willing to say what they think
When cohesiveness is low, people are less willing to speak freely because of fear of social harm.
P2
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High cohesion can have risks ·
Can be less likely to deviate from majority opinion
Causal mechanism ·
Groupthink
Members of high-cohesion group may not scrutinize others' proposals. They'll either think the proposal is good without critical thinking, or they'll suppress any doubts for the benefit of group consensus.
P3
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Factors that can lead to groupthink ·
Overestimating group's power and morality, closed-mindedness, pressure toward uniformity
Requirement for groupthink ·
Cohesion in group is necessary, but not sufficient, for groupthink
Let's do some more research on other factors that can lead to groupthink.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
21.
A group of closely associated ██████████ ███ ████ █ ██████████ ██████████ ████████ █████ █ ██████ ██ ████████ ██████ ██ ████████████ ████ ███████████ █████████████ ██ ███ ██ ████████ ████ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ██████ █████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ████████
a
provides evidence of ███████ ███████████ ████ ██████████ █ ████ █████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████
Not supported, because a group that has disagreements could also involve high cohesion, but without groupthink. A highly cohesive group can be one in which group members
b
indicates that the ███████ ████████████ ███ ███████ ████ ████ █████ ██████ ██ ███████ █ ██████████ ██████
We have no reason to think groupthink played a role. That’s because groupthink involves the danger of group members
c
provides no evidence ████ ██████████ ██████ █ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ████████
Supported, because we have no reason to think groupthink played a role. That’s because groupthink involves the danger of group members
d
provides evidence that ██████████ ███ ███████ ████ ██ ████ ██████ ████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██ █████████ ██ ██████████
We have no reason to think groupthink played a role. That’s because groupthink involves the danger of group members
e
indicates that the █████ ████████ █████ ████ ████ ███ ███████████████ █████████ ████ █████████ ██ ████████ ███ ███████████ ████ ██████████
Not supported, because we have no evidence from the passage that greater study of information produces better decision-making.