Psychology A2 · Organisational Psychology. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.
Groups change over time. Tuckman described four stages, forming, storming, norming, performing, and Tuckman and Jensen later added adjourning. Belbin said an effective team needs a balance of nine team roles, each with strengths and 'allowable weaknesses'.
Groups can also decide badly. In groupthink (Janis), a very cohesive group wants agreement so much that members stop judging the plan critically. It is more likely with a directive leader and isolation from outside views.
Forsyth lists cognitive limitations and errors in group decisions: sins of commission (misusing information), sins of omission (overlooking information) and sins of imprecision (relying on mental shortcuts).
Students put norming before storming. Conflict comes second; agreement on rules comes third. In groupthink questions, self-censorship is a member keeping his or her own doubts quiet, while a mindguard keeps outside information away from the group.
Answer: The illusion of unanimity.
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