Group Polarization Essay

How an individual’s performance is affected by the presence of others was the question Norman Triplett thought of while reviewing cyclist speed records (Gilovich, Keltner, & Nisbett, 2011). What Triplett noticed was, races where cyclists were compete against another cyclist at the same track and time were much faster than when cyclist raced alone. With this, Triplett (1898) conducted what is commonly referred to as social psychology’s first experiment. A sample size of 40 children were first asked to cast a fishing line alone and on the second trial, one child was paired with another so that the fishing lines would be casted together. Triplett’s result supported his hypothesis that the presence of others enhances performance, or social facilitation

Groups also share three characteristics. All groups have: a set of expected behaviors which certain individuals perform, or roles; groups follow norms, or rules of behaviors regarding to beliefs, values and attitudes; and cohesion from positive or negative stimuli which pushes groups closer together. When groups make decisions, there are certain aspects in group interactions that can potentially effect ‘good’ decision making. Group Polarization is the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than a member’s original individual intent. Members of the group tend to be more inclined toward greater risk if the tendency is to be risky or, members will be more inclined to be more cautious if the tendency is to be cautious. Group polarization tends to occur when an individual within a group create a persuasive argument: extreme arguments in order to sway other individuals to support a particular side of an argument. Another reason is the social comparison interpretation, where members of the group adopt the ideas of other member of the group, but become more extreme than before in order to have acceptance or approval (Gilovich, Keltner, & Nisbett,