What does groupthink mean?
Groupthink is the tendency of a group to suppress disagreement, personal judgment, and critical scrutiny in pursuit of consensus. It often emerges when members are strongly loyal to one another, feel pressure to conform, or become insulated from outside perspectives. The result may be a decision that seems widely accepted but has not been subjected to serious testing or debate. In public and professional settings, the word is usually negative: it identifies a failure of deliberation rather than healthy cooperation or agreement. Groupthink is especially associated with political, military, corporate, and organizational decision-making, where conformity can discourage people from raising warnings or proposing alternatives. Understanding the term can help readers and leaders distinguish genuine agreement from agreement produced by social pressure, group loyalty, or fear of dissent. The expression is also used more broadly for insular or self-reinforcing group cultures, including those found in workplaces and online communities.
nounGroupthink is a pattern of decision-making in which members of a cohesive group suppress dissent and reach a consensus without critically evaluating alternatives. It is generally used to describe conformity that discourages independent judgment.
- The tendency of members of a group to conform to a perceived consensus while suppressing dissent, criticism, or the careful evaluation of alternatives.
"The committee's decision reflected groupthink rather than a careful assessment of the available options."
"The committee fell into groupthink and approved the proposal without seriously considering the objections raised by its members."
"Writers who work in isolation can help counter the groupthink that develops in collaborative creative projects."
The countable plural is uncommon; groupthink is normally used as an uncountable noun.
"The organization has suffered several groupthinks that left it poorly prepared for changing conditions."
The word was coined by psychologist Irving Janis in the 1950s after studying disastrous decisions made by cohesive groups that had stopped asking uncomfortable questions.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does groupthink come from?
Groupthink is an English compound formed from group and think, coined in the 1950s by American social psychologist Irving Janis. Janis developed the concept while studying cases in which cohesive groups reached poor decisions because they excluded dissent and alternative viewpoints. The compound was later popularized in his 1972 book Victims of Groupthink, while group and think themselves have older histories in English, with think deriving from Old English þencan and group ultimately deriving from French and Latin.
Related word forms
How groupthink is actually used
The term is usually formal and strongly evaluative. It commonly carries a negative connotation, implying that the group's apparent agreement results from pressure, self-censorship, or the avoidance of productive disagreement rather than from sound deliberation. It is also used more broadly to describe patterns of conformity in institutions, organizations, and online communities.