Analysis: Choice Shift And Group Polarization

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The topic involving small group communication that I have picked and will analyze is group polarization stemming from choice shifts. In an article called Choice Shift and Group Polarization by Noah E. Friedkin, choice shift is “said to occur when, after a group’s interaction on an issue, the mean final opinion of group members differs from the members’ mean initial opinion.” (857) This means that members of a group each have an individual opinion about a topic, thing, person, decision, etc. There is a general feeling about that certain topic and a choice shift occurs when the group decision in the end is different from what the general feelings of each individual’s opinion originally was. Thus, individuals and ultimately the group choice changed or shifted. Though distinct, through the articles I have analyzed it seems as though group polarization goes hand-in-hand with choice shifts. Group polarization …show more content…

Before discussing with each other our living plans, most of us had a mean individual preference to live with each other. As we discussed it further, we realized that coop would get in the way and everyone would be split up and each person had different ideas on how far away from campus they wanted to live and how much they were willing to pay. After our group had a discussion, a choice shift occurred as the mean group preference was to not live together anymore, different than the original mean individual preference. Our group framed the situation negatively, therefore taking more risk and splitting up. In other words, we viewed our losses as how far the distance was and how much each person was willing to pay overruling living together, thus taking the risk to split up. The more we talked about our plans for the next year and what each of us wanted, the more our group polarized and our feelings about splitting up

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