Groupthink In 12 Angry Men

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Group think According to Janis, who coined the term; groupthink “occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment” (1972, p. 9) further group think often leads to a decrease in the mental efficacy perception of reality and moral judgement, as personages find themselves in a group system that seeks high cohesion and unanimity which delimits the motivation of the individual to realistically appraise alternate courses of action (Janis, 1972). A common trait of a collective experiencing this phenomenon, is an inclination to take irrational decision making in addition to members of the group being similar in background and further being insulated from external insight. Comparably the singularity of groupthink is present in the film 12 Angry Men, and appears anecdotally, early on the film, present in the expected unanimous vote of ‘guilty,’ that will send the defendant to the electric chair. Invulnerability Literature surrounding the concept of group think is greatly rooted in the writings of Janis. Janis postulated eight symptoms that point to the presence of groupthink and impaired decision making. The first symptom described is an illusion of invulnerability and involves member of the ‘in …show more content…

Symptoms of Groupthink (Janis, Group think ).” Former describes behaviour associate with the next indicator of group think, rationalization, which involves the in-group substantiating their line of reasoning. In the first act juror number three is the front runner of the men who voted guilty. Promptly after the first vote he gives what he feel is undeniable datum and reason for his vote he