THE RELATION BETWEEN GROUPTHINK THEORY AND SOCIAL MEDIA

PRESENTED BY TRONG NGUYEN & VICTORIA GRIFFIN

Figure 1: Groupthink (Mistofmanagement.net, 2015)Author Note

This presentation was prepared for COM 600 – M001, taught by Professor Grygiel

IRVING JANIS

• Born in Buffalo, New York, in 1918 and studied at the University of Chicago and earned his doctorate from Columbia University in 1948. He completed his postdoctoral study at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. (“Goodtherapy.org,” 2007)

• Be identified for the group think theory. (“Goodtherapy.org,” 2007) Figure 2: Irving Janis (geocities.ws)

GROUPTHINK THEORY

“In a group sometimes there comes a situation when all the members of the group think it is more important to come to a unanimous decision than to carefully go through all their options to get at the most beneficial course of action.” (“Communication Theory,” 2010)

http://communicationtheory.org/groupthink/

A FAMOUS CASE

The Challenger space shuttle disaster:

• The engineers knew about faulty parts, but in order to avoid negative press, they went ahead with the launch anyway. (“History.com,” 2016)

• On Jan 28, 1986, the American shuttle orbiter Challenger broke up 73 seconds after liftoff, bringing a devastating end to the spacecraft’s 10th mission. (“History.com,” 2016) 

http://www.history.com/topics/challenger-disaster

MAY GROUPTHINK RELATE TO SOCIAL MEDIA?

- Invulnerability: The members of the group feel they are perfect and that anything they do will turn out to be successful. (“Communication Theory,” 2010)

YES

Facebook users create pages or groups, where members believe in what they do. However, it poses some signs of dangers.

MAY GROUPTHINK RELATE TO…? (Cont)

• Collective Rationalization: They try giving reasons as to why the others don’t agree and thereby go ahead with their original decisions. (“Communication Theory,” 2010)

NO

Social media is an opinion market. Google or Twitter search provides us multiple ideas based on their database of knowledge.

MAY GROUPTHINK RELATE TO…? (Cont)

• Morality: whatever the group does will be right as they all know the difference between right and wrong. They overlook the consequences of what they decide. (“Communication Theory,” 2010)

YES

No face-to-face conversation will make people less thoughtful and irresponsible.

MAY GROUPTHINK RELATE TO…? (Cont)

Out – Group Stereotypes: The group believes that those who disagree are opposed to the group on purpose. They stereotype them as being weak or evil. (“Communication Theory,” 2010) YESThe brands are taking advantage of this trait to hire influencers to promote their products.

MAY GROUPTHINK RELATE TO…? (Cont)

Pressure on Dissenters: The majority directly threaten the person who questions the decisions by telling them that they can always leave the group if they don’t want to agree with the majority. Pressure is applied to get them to agree. (“Communication Theory,”2010)

YES

“Magical weapon” - Block button on Facebook

MAY GROUPTHINK RELATE TO…? (Cont)

• Self – Censorship: People engage in self – censorship where they believe that if they are the only odd one out then they must be the one who is wrong. (“Communication Theory,” 2010)

YES

That is Editing and Custom Apps

MAY GROUPTHINK RELATE TO…? (Cont)

• Illusions of unanimity: Members share an illusion of unanimity, in part because those who have doubts keep them to themselves. (“Communication Theory”, 2010)

YES

Trending topics on Facebook and Twitter mislead users that everything is important.

MAY GROUPTHINK RELATE TO…? (Cont)

• Mind Guards: They are members of the group who take it upon themselves to discourage alternative ideas from being expressed in the group. (“Communication Theory,” 2010)

YES

Fans bully to protect their idols over anti-fans on social media like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.

Figure 3: Minaj vs Swift (OKMagazine, 2015)

THE RELATION BETWEEN

SOCIAL IDENTITY AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Author NoteThis presentation was prepared for

COM 600 – M001, taught by Professor Grygiel

PRESENTED BY: VICTORIA GRIFFIN & TRONG NGUYEN

Syracuse University

Figure 1. Fake Identities (Meir, 2012).

HENRI TAJFEL & JOHN TURNER

• Henri Tajfel Born on June 22, 1919, in Włocławek, Poland Grew up in Poland, survived World War II in a series of

prisoner-of-war camps The effect lead to his later work on the psychology of

prejudice and intergroup relations

• John Turner Born on September 7, 1947 in South London Research for his PhD led to him becoming Tajfel’s

student

• They developed the theory of social identity in 1979

Wikipedia, 2016

Figure 3. John C. Turner (Reicher & Haslam, 2011).

Figure 2. Henri Tajfel (EASP, 2012).

3 COGNITIVE PROCESSESBeing part of the in-group or the out-group

Social IdentificationSocial CategorizationSocial Comparison

SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY

“People tend to categorize

themselves into groups in order to

gain a greater sense of who they are,

with consequences for self-esteem, prejudice and stereotyping”.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/sep/06/john-turner-obituary

http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/psychology/social/social_identity_theory.html

Figure 4. Social Identity Chart (Age of The Sage, ND).

SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION• Finding

compatibility within the in-group based on the worth, attitude, and the "normality" of the group

• A more open but plainly undisguised process

Figure 5. Mean Girls (Sterns, 2015).

(Age of The Sage, 2016)

SOCIAL CATEGORIZATION

• Deciding which group you belong to based on who is in it

• Being a neutral party or independent of group thinking can cause conflict

(Age of The Sage, 2016)

Figure 6. Comparative Context (Haslam, 2011).

SOCIAL COMPARISON

• Your thinking begins to resemble how the group thinks and you estimate your worth by:• Comparing it to

society • How it is rated in

society

(Age of The Sage, 2016)

Figure 7. Social Comparison Theory (Plante, 2013).

HOW IT RELATES TO…FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, LINKEDIN, PINTEREST,

TUMBLR, ETC…

POSITIVE SELF-DISTINCTIVENESS STRATEGY

Social Identity theory details certain strategies which help to achieve and maintain positive self-distinctiveness in a group of

individuals.

(Communication Theory, 2010)

INDIVIDUAL MOBILITY

• If it is possible to change your status in the group, individuals become more motivated to achieve self objectives rather than group ones.

Figure 8. Individuality (Pixabay, 2013).

(Communication Theory, 2010)

SOCIAL CREATIVITY

• If statuses are more concrete and

held by boundaries

individuals of low status are more inclined to the

achieve creatively. Behavior is a

factor

Figure 9. Creativity (Mainwaring, 2009).

(Communication Theory, 2010)

SOCIAL COMPETITION• Statuses are as

changeable as the wind in this group

and most boundaries if not all

can be passed though easily,

resulting in the individual

challenging the group.

The identity of the group is brought

into question.

(Communication Theory, 2010)

Figure 10. Competition (Johnson 2013).

REFERENCE1. Group Think. Group Communication, Organizational Communication, Psychology, Behavioral and Social Science.

Retrieved Feb 8, 2016, from http://communicationtheory.org/groupthink/

2. Social Identity. Group Communication, Organizational Communication, Psychology, Behavioral and Social Science. Retrieved Feb 7, 2016, from http://communicationtheory.org/social-identity-theory/

3. Challenger Disaster. A&E Television Network. Retrieved Feb 8, 2016, from http://www.history.com/topics/challenger-disaster

4. Brian, Solis. Q&A: Why the Future of Business is Shared Experiences. Brian Solis Blog. Retrieved Feb 8, 2016, from http://www.briansolis.com/2013/04/qa-why-the-future-of-business-is-shared-experiences/

5. Henri Tajfel - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 8, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Tajfel

6. John Turner obituary | Education | The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/sep/06/john-turner-obituary

7. Social Identity Theory - Tajfel and Turner 1979. Retrieved from http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/psychology/social/social_identity_theory.html

Q&A