In Irving Janis’ analyzation of groupthink, she talks about how groupthink is most dangerous during “a crisis situation that puts everyone under intense stress.” Although Janis didn’t mention this as an example of groupthink, I kept thinking about the Donner Party. The Donner Party was a group of settlers in the mid 1800s who were trapped in the Sierra Nevada during the winter. In order to survive, the group resulted to cannibalism.
I remember learning about this in my high school psych class, but I’m not sure if we focused on the group dynamic in general or groupthink. In terms of groupthink, I think this is a really interesting example because this small group was put under so much stress that they ignored their reservations about such a taboo topic and literally began eating each other. It is easy to look back in hindsight and say we would have never done that, but due to the stress that starvation put on the group, they were unable to see any other option. And for those who argued for plan b, the pressure from the group silenced them.
This is an interesting point about the Donner Party. Group members exert powerful influence on each other, especially in high stress situations since they want to avoid being ostracized from the group and disagreeing. This can lead groups to make even more radical decisions than one person would make, such as reverting to canaballism.
Mentioning the Donner Party was very interesting. It would have made it hard for people to speak up because the leaders who had all of the power in the group were able to put so much pressure on the group members.
I love your example of the Doner party. The power structure of the group can cause those at the bottom to be silenced or an outcast. in addition to the stress of the situation, there can also be high levels of peer pressure.
I agree that stress adds to the decisions of a group. I would also argue, like in the Doner Party, that people will agree to things that they normally would be against if they are desperate or they see others doing it.