GROUP DYNAMICS

CHAPTER 7 – DECISION MAKING

JURY – only one of the small groups in our society that have to make vital decisions
NOTE: Many groups exist to make decisions for our society
The purpose of group decision making is to decide on well-considered, well-understood, realistic action toward
goals every member wishes to achieve
GROUP DECISION – some agreement prevails among group members as to which of several courses of action is most
desirable for achieving the group’s goals
DECISION – one step in the more general problem-solving process of goal-directed groups
 After defining a problem or issue
 Thinking over alternative courses of action
 Weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each, a group will decide which course is the most desirable to
implement

FIVE MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE GROUP DECISIONS

1. The resources of group members are fully utilized
2. Time is well used
3. The decision is correct or of high quality
4. The decision is implemented fully by all the required group members
5. The problem-solving ability of the group is improved, or at least not lessened.

GOODWIN WATSON
 PROCESS GAIN – the interaction among group members results in ideas, insights, and strategies that no one
member previously had thought of his or her own.
o Group discussions tend to lead to decisions that none of the participants had thought of before the
discussion
o Groups discussing problems have been found to derive more crucial insights onto how best to solve the
problems than individuals working alone
o Often occurs in groups as the discussion usually stimulates ideas that might not occur to the individual
working alone
o Groups have a more accurate memory of facts and events than do individuals
o Group members may share unique information that other members did not know
o When members freely share information, they tend to make better decisions than do individuals
o The quality of the decision making is dependent on members sharing their unique information as well as
summarizing information that is shared by all
o Groups are more likely to focus on unshared information
o Different group members may be assigned to specific areas of expertise so that they know that they
alone are responsible for certain types for certain types of information.
 TRANSACTIVE MEMORY – knowledge of each individual member and the ways to exchange it through
communication
o More efficient than the memory than the memory of either individual alone
o Memories – possessing more knowledge than any individual member has alone
WHY GROUPS ARE BETTER
 Groups facilitate higher motivation to achieve
 Groups make riskier, more polarized decisions
 Involvement in decision making increases members’ commitment to implement the decision
 Involvement in group discussion making facilitates the changes in behavior and attitudes required to implement
the decision
 Diversity of membership increases the variety of resources available
 Face-to-face discussion enhances the quality of reasoning and creativity
THORNDIKE – groups generally learn faster, make fewer errors, recall information better, make better decisions, and
produce a higher-quality than do individuals
SOCIAL FACILITATION
 Working in the presence of others has been found to improve performance on a variety of tasks
 As long as the task is relatively a simple, well-learned one, having others around us appears to facilitate
performance
 But if the task is difficult, complex, or new, the presence of others tends to impair our performance
 Social facilitation and impairment effects seem to occur across a wide range of species
 Presence of others increases physiological arousal and this arousal increases the likelihood that our dominant or
most probable response will occur
 If the well-learned, dominant response includes behaviors that lead to poor performance then people do worse
 Social facilitation occurs because audiences, co-actors, and even bystanders often lead performers into
ATTENTIONAL TEMPTATION  they are placed in conflict regarding whether to attend to other people or to
the ongoing task
 The resulting conflicts lead to drive arousal and stress  produces the social facilitation or impairment effects
 It occurs:
o Audiences or co-actors heighten self-consciousness
o Self-aware individuals will try harder
 Social impairment occurs on difficult tasks because when self-aware people see that they are not succeeding,
their motivation cause when self-aware people see that they are succeeding, their motivation cause when self-
aware people see that they are not succeeding, their motivation drops, and they stop trying
 Audiences and co-actor affect performance by increasing our concerns about projecting a positive self-image to
onlookers
 SELF-PRESENTATION PERSPECTIVE – social impairment occurs on difficult tasks because initial failures produce
embarrassment  disrupts performance
 EVALUATION APPREHENSION – concern over being judged
o It may not be the presence of others but the presence of others who are evaluating our performance
that causes arousal and subsequent social facilitation
o When other people are evaluating your performance, the stakes are raised in that you will feel
embarrassed if you do poorly and pleased if you do well
 In groups, the cooperation and social support among group members will moderate arousal ad reduce
competitiveness and evaluation apprehension
 The stronger the positive interdependence and social support, the greater the social facilitation and the less the
social impairment
 GROUP POLARIZATION – tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial
inclination of its members
o When a group faces a situation that requires creative thinking and new perspectives, such risk taking
enhances the quality of group decision
o RISKY SHIFT PHENOMENON - The decisions chosen by the group were by and large riskier than those
selected before discussion
o Group discussion intensifies all sorts of attitudes, beliefs, values, judgments, and perceptions
o CAUTION SHIFT – greater consciousness
o Group members’ positions become more polarized after discussion
o Group polarization RISKY SHIFT – discussion tends to exaggerate and enhance group members’
prediscussion views
 NORMATIVE INFLUENCES – members want to create a favorable impression on others
 INFORMATIONAL INFLUENCES – members learn new information that causes them to modify
their opinions
 SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION – individuals want to identify with the group and be considered
members
 INVOLVEMENT IN DECISION MAKING
o To increase the quality of the decision by fully utilizing the resources of each member
 o T o increase members’ commitment to implement the decision
o Involvement in decision making tends to increase members’ allegiance to the group and commitment to
seeing the decision through to fruition
o DECISIONS SHOULD BE MADE BY FEW MEMBERS WHEN:
 When the decisions are about matters that do not need committed action by most group
members
 When the decisions are so simple that coordination among group members and understanding
of what to do are easy
 When the decisions have to be made quickly
 CHANGING BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS AND ATTITUDES
o Participating in a decision-making discussion within a group can affect a person’s subsequent behavior
and attitudes
o Two causes of the success of a group discussion:
 PUBLIC COMMITMENT TO PEERS
 DEGREE OF PERCEIVED CONSENSUS IN THE GROUP
o When people participate in a group decision to change an attitude or behavior, they are more likely to
implement the decision when they are committed to the group and they believe the rest of the group
members are implementing the decision
o PARTICIPATORY LEADERS – who encourage all members to take part in the discussion
 Consider each member’s ideas
 Discourage chance methods of decision making
 Urge members to complete the group’s assigned work in the allotted time
 More effective in changing members’ attitudes
o SUPERVISORY LEADERS – who did not participate in the discussion
 Limited their responsibility to seeing that the work was done in the allotted time
 TYPE OF TASK
o DIVISIBLE – split into parts or UNITARY – done as a whole
o MAXIMIZING – amount and speed of work or OPTIMIZING – quality of work
o Four types of unitary tasks:
 DISJUNCTIVE – the group score is that of the best individual member
 CONJUNCTIVE – the group score is that of the worst individual
 ADDITIVE – the group score is the sum of group member contributions
 DISCRETIONARY – the group score is any combination of individual efforts the group wants to
put together
o On divisible, maximizing, and optimizing, groups tend to do better than individuals
 POTENTIAL GROUP PRODUCTIVITY – group’s maximum possible level of productivity at a task and suggested that
it depends on two factors:
o MEMBER RESOURCES
o TASK DEMANDS
o Groups rarely achieve to their potential because of process due to coordination losses that occur when
group members do not organize their effort optimally and motivation losses that occur when members
are not optimally motivated
 ACTUAL PROODUCTIVITY = POTENTIAL PRODUCTIVITY – PROCESS LEVEL
 It implies that there exists a single unique potential productivity baseline that constitutes an
upper boundary on group performance
 Individuals cannot be any more motivated in groups that they are when working individually
 It is possible that groups tend to have members who complement on one another
 It is possible that groups exhibit motivational gains as well as motivational losses
 Individuals are always performing up to their potential
 MEMBER DIVERSITY
o Most problem solving groups require at least one member who is achievement motivated and energetic
o Productive groups tends to have members who complement one another
 o HETEROGENOUS MEMBERSHIP – helpful on tasks in which a group needs only one member to get the
correct answer and on tasks requiring new solutions, flexibility, and quick adjustments to changing
conditions
o Diversity in experience may hurt performance on tasks in which groups succeed only if each member
performs his or her role well
 ONLINE DECISION MAKING
o It saves the organization on the considerable money and time it would take to bring them together face-
to-face
o Makes lower-quality decisions
o When groups had unlimited time to discuss the issues and were able to do so anonymously, computer-
mediation making was as effective as face-to-face decision making
o There is vitality and richness in getting together face to face interaction
o Group members come to trust and understand one another through face-to-face interaction
o They tend not to produce intense human relationships
o PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, GROUP COHESION, and MEMBER COMMITMENT
o Tends to miss the friendships, helpful tips, and attention
o Lacks ingenuity and innovation
o “out of sight, out of mind”
 DIGITAL DECISION-MAKING SKILLS
o Being a good group member on the internet is the same as being a good collaborator
o Technology makes the resources and shared spaces available to complete group goals even when the
group members are separated geographically
o Give group members access to needed resources even when the resources are distributed across the
world
o Allows groups to form and function when members live in different cities and even in different countries
 WHEN GROUP DECISION MAKING FAILS
o Do not possess accurate or relevant information
o Relevant information is not shared effectively
o Information may still be processed in a biased manner
o Groups may favor information confirming their initial vies
o Groups with diverse membership may initially have difficulty working together until the necessary social
skills are learned and accommodations to each other’s culture are made
o Group may need to develop before its superiority over individual decision making is clear

METHODS OF DECISION MAKING

MUST BE CONSIDERED:
A. The type of decision to be made
B. The amount of time and resources available
C. The history of the group
D. The nature of the task being worked on
E. The kind of climate the group wished to establish
F. The type of setting in which the group is working
1. DECISION BY AUTHORITY WITH GROUP DISCUSSION – decisions are made without consuting the group members
in any way
a. Takes a short time to execute
b. Not very effective
2. DECISION BY EXPERT - the group does not discuss the issue
a. Unless there is a clear and effective way to determine who the expert is, this method does not work very
well
b. It too fails to involve group members which affects the implementation of the decision
3. DECISION BY AVERAGING INDIVIDUALS’ OPINIONS – separately asking each group member his or her opinion
and then averaging the results
 a. This is similar to majority voting, except that the group’s decision may be determined by less than 50% of
the members
b. No direct discussion is held among members
c. The opinions of the least knowledgeable members may annul the opinions of the most knowledgeable
members
d. DELPHI TECHNIQUE (DALKEY, HELMER) – to average group decisions while eliminating or controlling
members’ interaction with one another
i. To improve judgmental forecasting by providing practical procedures for eliciting expert opinions
ii. The median or mean of the set of individual estimates is taken as the final group forecast
iii. Avoided the biasing effects of dominant individuals, or irrelevant communications, and of group pressure
toward conformity
e. NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE – individual assessment of the problem
i. Individuals first generate ideas concerning the issue without any discussion
Group discussion begins
ii. Primarily focused on clarifying the stated ideas
iii. They should be used only as a last resort when other decision-making methods have failed
4. DECISION BY AUTHORITY AFTER GROUP DISCUSSION – listening to a group discussion will usually improve the
accuracy of a decision by the group’s leader
5. DECISION BY MINORITY – a minority, two or more members who constitute less than 50% of the group, can
make the group’s decisions in several ways
a. MINORITY CONTROL – act as an executive committee to make decisions for the group
i. Act as a temporary committee that considers special problems and decides what action the group should
take
ii. A legitimate method
b. RAILROADING – when two or more members come to a quick agreement on a course of action, challenge
the rest of the group
c. COURSE OF ACTION – implying that anyone who disagrees is in for a fight
d. This method also may be effective if a large number of decisions do not require the involvement and support
of the rest of the group in order to be implemented
6. DECISION BY MAJORITY VOTE – to discuss an issue only as long as it takes 51% of the members to agree on a
course of action
7. DECISION BY CONSENSUS – most effective method of decision making
a. Requires most time and resources
b. CONSENSUS - everyone agrees on the same course of action
c. It requires sufficient open communication and social support that all members believe they have had a fair
chance to influence the decision
d. Best method for producing an innovative, creative, and high quality decision that all members will be
committed to implementing, uses the resources of all group members, and increases the future decision-
making effectiveness of the group
e. Characterized by more conflict among members, more shifts of opinion a longer time to reach a conclusion,
and more confidence by members in the correctness of their decision
f. BASIC GUIDELINES
i. Seek out differences of opinion
ii. Present your position as clearly and logically as possible
iii. Critically analyze the other positions
iv. Encourage all group members to present the best case possible for what they believe
v. Change your mind when your are logically persuaded to do so
vi. Avoid conflict-reducing procedures
vii. Keep the goal of reaching the best decision possible salient

FACTORS THAT AFFECT GROUP DECISION MAKING

1. LACK OF GROUP MATURITY – such random, temporary, ad hoc groups did not have time to develop enough
maturity to function will full effectiveness
a. Group members need time and experience working together to develop into a mature decision-making
group
b. GROUP MATURITY – members working with one another long enough that they coordinate their behavior
and complement one another’s efforts automatically, without conscious planning or thought
2. UNCRITICALLY GIVING ONE’S DOMINANT RESPONSE – poor decision made because group members quickly
decide on an alternative course of action based don their dominant response
a. Responses are arranged hierarchically and that when a problem arises, the dominant response may result in
the correct solution receiving little consideration
b. Dominant responses can be based on:
i. Physical states
ii. Psychological states
iii. General cultural perspectives
iv. Mental sets
v. Expectations that bias how ambiguous events are interpreted
vi. Fixation
vii. Laziness
viii. Adoption of previously useful solution
3. SOCIAL LOAFING: HIDING IN THE CROWD – causes group members to demonstrate levels of motivation and
effort far beyond what would be expected from an individual acting alone
a. The members do not want to been as the weakest link in the group
b. RINGELMAN EFFECT – the inverse relationship between the number of people in a group and the quality
and/or magnitude of individual performance on additive tasks
c. As groups got larger, members pulled less hard, at least partly because they were less motivated
d. SOCIAL LOAFING – reduction of individual effort when working with others on an additive group task
i. Happens when group members lack identifiable contributions
ii. When there is an increased likelihood of redundant efforts
iii. When there is a lack of cohesiveness among group members
iv. When there is lessened responsibility for the final outcome
v. When the task is boring
vi. When there is no spirit of commitment to the group
vii. When group members believe that others are loading
viii. When they believe that the responsibility is diffused across all group members
ix. May be reduced or avoided all together when:
1. Each group member’s contributions are identifiable
2. The task and performance goals re personally meaningful, challenging, important, involving, attractive, and
intrinsically interesting
3. Strong incentive for doing well on the task
4. Members understand that their personal efforts will lead to a better group performance
5. Group cohesiveness is high
6. Performance of each member is evaluated by groupmates and authorities
e. ADDITIVE TASKS – require the summing together of individual group members’ inputs to maximize the group
product
4. FREE RIDING: GETTING SOMETHING FOR NOTHING
a. DISJUNCTIVE TASKS – tasks that require only one person to complete but that benefit everyone in the group
i. Allow individuals to bear less responsibility for completing a task, they also present the possibility that
some group members a take a free ride
b. FREE RIDE – one person benefiting from the work of other group members while doing no work him/herself
i. They believe their efforts are not needed; they believe they are dispensable
5. MOTIVATION LOSSES DUE TO PERCEIVED INEQUITY: NOT BEING A SUCKER
a. SUCKER EFFECT- tendency to reduce your efforts when other group members are engaging in free riding
6. GROUPTHINK AND DEFENSICE AVOIDANCE – decision makers often are reluctant to take action
 a. They are beset by conflict, doubts, and worry
b. They struggle with conflicting longings, antipathies, and loyalties
c. DEFENSIVE AVOIDANCE – procrastinating, rationalizing, or denying responsibility for their own actions
d. GROUPTHINK – collective striving for unanimity that overrides group members’ motivation to appraise
alternative courses realistically and thereby leads to
i. Deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment
ii. Ignoring of external information inconsistent with the favored alternative course of action
iii. Leads to CONCURRENCE SEEKING – group members inhibiting discussion in order to avoid any
disagreement or arguments, emphasize agreement, and avoid realistic appraisal of alternative ideas and
courses of action
1. Quick compromises and censorship of disagreement
iv. Promoted when the group is highly cohesive, when it is insulated from outside criticism, when the leader
is directive and dynamic, and when the group does not search for and critically evaluate alternatives
v. DYNAMICS OF GROUPTHINK
1. SELF-CENSORSHIP – each member minimizes any doubts about the apparent group consensus
2. ILLUSION OF UNANIMITY – each member assumes that everyone is in agreement  state of pluralistic ignorance
3. DIRECT PRESSURE ON DISSENTERS – anyone expressing doubts is pressured to conform
4. MIND GUARDS – certain group members try to prevent dissenters from raising objections
5. ILLUSION OF INVULNERABILITY – unwarranted optimism and excessive risk taking
6. RATIONALIZATION – invent justifications  prevents misgivings and appropriate reconsideration
7. ILLUSION OF MORALITY – ignore the ethical consequences of the favored alternative and assume that the
group’s actions are morally justified
8. STEREOTYPING AND MORAL EXCLUSION – dismiss competitors, rivals, and potential critics as too weak
vi. They include an incomplete survey of alternatives and objectives, failure to examine risks of the preferred
choice, poor information search, selective bias in processing information, failing to reappraise alternatives,
and making no contingency plan
vii. The greater the groupthink, the more negative was the outcome of the decision
viii. Stating the leader’s views early (DIRECTIVE LEADERSHIP), homogeneity among group members, and
insulation of the group from outside influence are crucial factors in the groupthink process
7. POOR CONFLICT MANAGEMENT BY GROUP MEMBERS
a. Conflicts enhance group effectiveness
b. Result in some members wishing, consciously or unconsciously, to sabotage the group effort
c. Self-oriented needs that may interfere with attention to making an effective decision
8. EGOCENTRISM OF GROUP MEMBERS – tend to result in lower-quality decisions than does an approach that
emphasizes understanding of other members’
a. ability to view the issues being discussed from a variety of points of view
b. the more members are embedded in their own perspective and the more they refuse to consider the
perspectives of others, the lower the quality of the group’s decision will tend to be
9. LACK OF SUFFICIENT HETEROGENEITY
a. Optimally active depends on how fully the necessary information, skills, and views are represented
b. The more homogenous the participants, the less each member adds to the resources present in the others
c. Homogenous groups makes less effective decisions
10. INTERFERENCE OR PRODUCTION BLOCKING
a. PRODUCTION BLOCKING – when the participation of one member interferes with the participation of other
members
11. INAPPROPRIATE GROUP SIZE
a. The greater the discrepancy between functional and actual group size, the more ineffective the group will be
b. The less group members see their individual efforts as essential to group success, the less effective the
group will be
i. Social loafing increases as the size of the group increases
c. The greater the complexity of the group structure and the more time it takes to organize joint efforts, the
less effective the group will be
d. The less members identify with the group, the less effective the group will be
 e. The less members follow the group’s norms, the less effective the group will be
12. PREMATURE CLOSURE AND DISSONANCE REDUCTION
a. Making a decision prematurely and then reducing any dissonance felt by group members can contribute to
ineffective decision making
b. DISSONANCE THOERY – anytime someone is forced to choose between two attractive options, postdecision
cognitive dissonance is present
c. COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY – exists when a person possesses two cognitions that contradict one
another
d. To reduce:
i. Increase the perceived desirability of the decision made and decrease the perceived desirability of the
alternatives that were not chosen
ii. The more difficult or important the decision, the more likely group members are to find reasons that
support the choice that was made and to minimize the attractive qualities of the forgone choice
13. MEMBERS NOT HAVING RELEVANT SKILLS
a. TASK WORK SKILLS – those required to complete the task
b. GROUP WORK SKILLS – those required to work as part of a group
c. The confidence the member has in his or her solution, the amount of his or her participation in the
discussion
d. When the most capable members of a problem-solving group are not confident, have low status, are not
talkative, the group is likely to underutilize its resources
14. LACK OF INDIVIDUAL INCENTIVES FOR AND BARRIERS TO CONTRIBUTING
a. When incentives for contributing are low, members make little effort to achieve group goals
b. When contributing to the group takes time and energy that would be better be spent elsewhere or when a
person believes others are exploiting his or her contributions, the person may feel an incentive not to
contribute to a group effort

FIVE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS INTO GROUP LIFE

1. Positive interdependence
2. Face-to-face promotive interaction
3. Individual accountability
4. Social skills
5. Group processing

CONSIDERED AND THOUGHTFUL DECISION MAKING

1. IDENTIFYING AND DEFINING THE PROBLEM OR ISSUE
a. PROBLEM - discrepancy or difference between an actual state of affairs and a desired state of affairs
b. Requires both an idea about where the group should be and valid information about where it is now
c. The more clear, and accurate the definition of the problem, the easier it is to complete the other steps in the
problem-solving processes
i. Reaching agreement on what the desired state of affairs is
ii. Obtaining valid, reliable, directly verifiable, descriptive, and correct information about the existing state
of affairs
iii. Discussing thoroughly the difference between the desired and actual state of affairs  creates
motivation and committment
2. GATHERING INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXISTENCE OF THE PROBLEM – diagnosing the occurrence, magnitude,
and nature of the problem
a. Valid information must be gathered
b. FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS – the problem is seen as a balance between forces working in opposite directions,
some helping the movement toward the desired state of affairs and other restraining such movement
i. Make up lists of forces by first brainstorming all the helping forces and then all the restraining forces
ii. Rank the forces according to their importance in affecting the present situation
c. BARRIERS:
i. Not getting the needed information
 ii. Poor communication within the group
d. QUASI-STATIONARY EQUILIBRIUM - the balance that results between the helping and restraining forces
3. FORMULATING AND CONSIDERING ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS
a. CRITICAL EVALUATION – if decision makers do know what the alternatives are and have correctly diagnosed
each alternative’s inherent advantages and disadvantages, they will not choose a certain course of action
unless its advantages are expected to exceed its disadvantages
b. Requires creative, divergent, and inventive reasoning
c. FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS – it is based on the assumption that changes in the present situation will occur only
as the helpful and restraining forces are changed so that the level where they balance is adjusted
i. Increasing the strength or number of helping forces
ii. Decreasing the strength or number of the restraining forces
iii. The fewer the forces acting on the present situation, the lower the tension level of the people in the
situation
iv. One way of intervening simultaneously with both types of forces is to modify a restraining force so that it
becomes a helping force
v. To involve group members who are resisting the desired changes in diagnosing the problem situation and
in planning the solution
vi. It allows group members to identify several points at which they may intervene in their attempt to
produce a change
d. VIGILANT ANALYSIS – elimination of the possibility of defensive avoidance and ensures the vigilant
consideration of each alternative solution
i. Four factors:
1. The tangible gains and losses for the group members
2. Tangible gains and losses for significant others
3. Member self-approval or self-disapproval
4. The approval or disapproval of the group by significant others
e. Other procedures:
i. Impartial leadership
ii. Critical evaluator role for every member
iii. Devil’s advocate
iv. Outside experts
f. BARRIERS:
i. Failure to identify the proper alternative courses of action
ii. Premature elimination of courses of action
iii. Pressures of conformity
iv. Lack of inquiry and problem solving skills
v. Lack of procedures to aid analysis and synthesis
4. DECIDING ON A SOLUTION – the group needs to select the solution to implement
a. The purpose of group decision making is to decide on well-considered, well-understood, realistic action
toward goals every member wished to achieve
b. SECOND-CHANGE MEETING – can be held at which all members are encouraged to express any remaining
doubts and criticisms
i. Help prevent premature consensus and concurrence seeking
ii. “sake talk”
5. EVALUATING THE EXTENT AND SUCCESS OF IMPLEMENTATION
a. DECISION IMPLEMENTATION – process of taking the necessary actions that result in the execution of the
decision
i. Requires internal commitment by relevant group members to the decisions made
ii. No decision is worthwhile unless it is implemented
iii. PROCESS EVALUATION – members must determine whether the solution was successfully implemented
and what the effects were
iv. OUTCOME EVALUATION – it involves assessing or judging the consequences of implementing the strategy
 b. Criterion: whether the actual state of affairs is closer to the desired state of affairs than it was before the
strategy was carried out
c. To improve the situation and solve the problem, no matter how many times they need to make a decision
and implement it
d. Evaluation should result in a new definition of a problem, a rediagnosis of the situation, and the beginning of
new problem solving sequence.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS IN DECISION MAKING

1. They tend to argue in favor of their preference, resist changing their minds, and come to final decision that
reflects their initial preference
2. They tend to seek out information that confirms their initial opinions and belief, accepting the information
uncritically at face value, and either ignore disconfirming information or subject it to a highly critical evaluation
3. The bias toward seeking out confirming information means that not all options are presented at equal strength
4. There is a tendency for group members to discuss shared information rather than unshared information
5. CONFORMITY BIAS – group members tend to change their view and attitudes toward the view and attitudes of
the majority of group members, even if doing so goes against their own judgment
6. Group members tend to generate more arguments supporting the position endorsed by the majority of group,
or the position that is most consistent with dominant social values
7. Group members may seek quick agreement to maintain group unity and view disagreement and conflict as
disruptive to group unity
a. COGNITIVE CLOSURE – quick, definite decision to end uncertainty, confusion, or ambiguity
b. GROUP CENTRISM – focusing on group unity at the expense of the quality of the decision
8. Blindness that comes with expertise

PROBLEMS WITH THEORIZING ON DECISION MAKING

 Much of the research has focused on whether the decisions made by groups are of high or low quality
 Much of the theorizing and research on decision making has assumed that decision makes are completely
involved, infinitely sensitive, and always rational
 SATISFICING – many decision makers look only for the alternative that meets a minimal set of requirements and
make quick decisions
HOW TO ALLEVIATE
 By studying the process of decision making rather than focusing on quality
 By specifying procedures that encourage real-life decision makers to become more systematic and rational in
their decision making