The Mental and Interpersonal Mechanisms of Groupthink Maintenance

As Dr. Henriques (2020) points out in the previous chapter, many of our beliefs are based not on facts or reason at all and in fact seem to be impervious to them. They are instead based upon our need to have a good reputation within our group and to maintain conformity to group norms. Potentially pathological mental and interpersonal mechanisms that maintain groupthink appear at the level of the individual, where they are called irrational beliefs or defense mechanisms. They appear at the level of the family or kin group, where they are called family myths. In science, they appear at the level of professional groups and organizations as such things as confirmation bias, the use of logical fallacies, and the ignoring of important contextual factors in evaluating experimental phenomena. All of us at times cede the right to think for ourselves for the sake of our group, and often we try to discourage our intimates from thinking for themselves for the same reason. This chapter will explore some of the mental and interpersonal strategies by which we do this both to ourselves and to others.