In
groupthink
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Cohesiveness, or the desire for cohesiveness ...
theory, a mindguard is a member of a group who serves as an informational filter, providing limited information to the group and, consciously or subconsciously, utilizing a variety of strategies to control dissent and to direct the decision-making process toward a specific, limited range of possibilities.
The presence of mindguards within a group is one of eight main "symptoms" of groupthink identified by its original theorist,
Irving Janis
Irving Lester Janis (May 26, 1918 – November 15, 1990) was an American research psychologist at Yale University and a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley most famous for his theory of "groupthink" which described the s ...
.
Mindguards can be self-appointed,
and multiple mindguards are frequently present in groupthink situations.
The techniques utilized, consciously or subconsciously, by mindguards include:
* time pressure in regard to decision-making
*
bandwagon effect
The bandwagon effect is the tendency for people to adopt certain behaviors, styles, or attitudes simply because others are doing so. More specifically, it is a cognitive bias by which public opinion or behaviours can alter due to particular act ...
/
information cascades
* reframing situations to increase pressure toward or away from a specific outcome
* creating a sense that
group cohesion
Group cohesiveness (also called group cohesion and social cohesion) arises when bonds link members of a social group to one another and to the group as a whole. Although cohesion is a multi-faceted process, it can be broken down into four main co ...
will suffer if unanimity is lacking
* other techniques
Mindguards exist in a variety of group settings. They are not always easy to identify, which adds to the difficulty in countering the phenomenon.
See also
*
Gatekeeping (communication)
Gatekeeping is the process through which information is filtered for dissemination, whether for publication, broadcasting, the internet, or some other mode of communication. The academic theory of gatekeeping may be found in multiple fields of stu ...
References
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Conformity