Section: Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior

51)

The social phenomenon of groupthink is characterized by all of the following EXCEPT:

1. A significant over-rating of the decision-making abilities of members of the ingroup.
2. A decrease in the creativity of individual group members in contributing to solutions the ingroup wants to achieve.
3. High loyalty and group cohesiveness causing members to feel safe raising controversial issues and proposing alternative solutions.
4. An effort to minimize conflict and ensure consensus.

Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when highly cohesive and loyal groups of people end up valuing consensus over clear decision-making and confronting ingroup conflicts. This high cohesiveness leads people to avoid raising controversial issues or propose alternatives to the group’s desired solution. Thus (C) is false and because this is an EXCEPT question, it’s the right answer. The remaining choices are all apt descriptions of groupthink.