Making Positive Decisions With The Group There was a study done by Alexander Merone, a researcher at Penn State, in relation to exactly how much mob mentality can impact decisions. He stated that, "it only takes 5% of what the scientists called ‘informed individuals’ to influence the direction of a crowd of around 200 people. The remaining 95% follow without even realizing it” (Hodan). Statistics likes these frequently cause people to view mob mentality, or the way people are influenced by their peers to make decisions, as having a negative connotation. This can be directly related to the story The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy. This book repetitively brings up the topic of mob mentality and how it impacts members of the Citadel, a military …show more content…
Through the eyes of Will Mclean the reader is able to experience the impacts that mob mentality has on young freshmen enduring their first year at the Citadel Military College. At one point in the story, the upperclassmen had their mind set on kicking out a kid named Bobby Bentley due to the fact that he was known for wetting his pants. During a meeting of the Freshmen, they discuss what to do about Bobby Bentley. The idea that they should brutally kick him out keeps coming up until one person stands up and says, “We think Bobby Bentley has more guts than any other knob in this company” which triggers a beneficial chain reaction, (Conroy 187). Going deeper into this quote it is identified how a potential negative outcome was able to completely change to a positive result just because of one person and their opinion. The Freshmen are a prime example of how being in a group can change decision making for the better in certain situations. These types of groupthink situations are consistently found throughout the story. This example of forming a group with a different, positive opinion goes against a small study done by a man named George Hodan. He claimed that, “individuals have evolved to be negatively influenced by their neighbours, rather than rely on their own instinct” (Hodan). This quote is true in some situations, but it does not mean that every form of mob mentality resulted from being negatively influenced by a neighbor. Many examples from The Lords of Discipline show the exact opposite. A prime example of this would be when Will Mclean agreed to defend his dear friend Pig in front of the Honor Court. They were nearing the end of their senior year together, and Pig was caught ‘stealing’ gas from Will’s car. This is a major violation at the Citadel Military College and Pig was in desperate need of someone to defend him. Will decided that he was going to, “start
Mob Mentality is a theme seen regularly in the book, “We’re Not From Here.” Mob mentality is when several people all act together on emotions rather than logic. It is commonly seen when the Zhuri gather together in swarms to attack Lan’s family. According to Psychology Today, one of the causes of mob mentality in groups is due to emotions and deindividuation. Most times when the Zhuri formed swarms, they were angry about the humans.
Mob Mentality: That escalated quickly… The website Investopedia defined mob mentality as “a form mentality characterized by a lack of individual decision-making or thoughtfulness, causing people to think and act in the same way as the majority of those around them”(Investopedia). Mob mentality usage was prominent in the world's history and is still being used today. In this essay mob mentality will be shown to you in a form of steps.
"At once the crowd surged after [him], ...screamed, struck, bit, tore," (Golding 169) these words demonstrate a repercussion of mob mentality. This phenomenon refers to the behaviours that one exhibits when in a group situation or mindset. Besides literature, it can be seen in everyday such as the riots in Vancouver or the short-lived popular trends. But how does this occur in the first place? Well, the existence of mob mentality in the modern world and in Golding's Lord of the Flies both suggest that the situation occurs because people are influenced by by their peers, the environment, and by their emotions.
In this essay I will discuss how Kelly presentes the negative effects of being in a gang through the use of a hierarchy in the sense of a very manipulative and controlling character compared to a very weak character who is pushed around and bullied into doing a lot of foolish things for either the group’s entertainment or benefit. Kelly presents the idea of being in a gang as a very negative and pessimistic one. We can see this in the quote “Richard, you’re scared of, are you?”. This is a rhetorical question said by John Tate highlighting a sense of control leadership for him. A repeated theme in this book is John Tate jockeying for power as he has an appetite for leadership.
Mob mentality is a behavior that happens to people in large groups that are supporting one thing (Smith). People in mobs think that it is okay to do things such as trash homes and buildings since everyone else around them is doing it too. In the articles the reader read, people decided they wanted to be in mobs because it can be exciting and powerful (Edmonds). They also decide to join the mob because if several others were doing something, it must be worthwhile or they would not be doing it (Smith). Sometimes when a riot is very long some people can forget why they are even there.
The only real way to combat the negative effects of groupthink is to cast aside your surrounding society’s norms of what is ‘good’ and ‘bad’, and to take a personal stance against that society no matter what the cost may be. The Salem Witch Trials as represented in The Crucible by Arthur Miller are a perfect, if slightly extreme, example of what herd mentality can lead to if left long enough to fester and grow. John Proctor is the character who takes a stand against his surrounding society, losing his life in the process but also breaking the thrall of groupthink for the town of Salem, effectively setting them free from the Witch Trials. There are two main types of people affected by groupthink: those who unconsciously go with the crowd and are unaware, and those who are simply too scared to speak up.
When people make choices that could drastically change their life, the decision they make is based on the influence of others. In the novel, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton a gang called the Greasers is stereotyped for being the "mean types" that slack off at school. Then there are the Socials who are know as the rich kids with cool cars that happen to like "jumping" Greasers. As these two gangs are rivaling, they both go through some dramatic events that change their perspectives on life. In the novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton the character Darrel Curtis is unquestionably influenced by his gang as it prevents him from being successful, leading him to becoming the father of the gang, and overall being someone to look up to.
While Miller and Josh are trying to come up with a plan, Miller discovers that they both cannot have a strong say so he states, “There must be some white men in the town who would stand for law and order” (125). Both of these characters have a determined personality along with their race so when the conflict arises in the riot, both of them play key roles in different viewpoints which causes chaos among the people. The conflictions posed in Josh’s and Miller’s role show how the double roles they play affect their standing in
Psychologist Irving Janis explained some alarmingly bad decisions made by governments and businesses coined the term "groupthink”, which he called "fiascoes.” He was particularly drawn to situations where group pressure seemed to result in a fundamental failure to think. Therefore, Janis further analyzed that it is a quick and easy way to refer to a mode of thinking people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members ' striving for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action. According to Janis, groupthink is referred as the psychological drive for consensus at any cost that suppresses disagreement and prevents the appraisal of alternatives in cohesive decision-making groups.
Although both Atonement and Mountain Standard Time all deal with the topic of reactionary mob violence, they deviate from one another on the bases of the incentives behind the attacks, the reactions from the targets, and themes on human nature the authors send with these scenes. Ian McEwan’s Atonement contains a scene of violence where a crowd of British infantry in World War II come to surround a lone air force operative after their frustration over a perceived lack of support after suffering losses in a battle. The scene starts with a soldier named Turner calls out the operator, asking: “Where were you when they killed my mate?”(McEwan 1). The soldiers quickly come against the operator, accusing him to be responsible for the lack of air
Gabe Gonzalez V+J 8-6-15 Lords of Discipline Essay In the book the Lords of Discipline Will McLean and Tom Pearce are both pushed outside of their comfort zone. Tom Pearce is the first African American student to ever be in the institute. Tom is harassed by a group of alumni known as the ten, they drive out the students who they feel are unfit for the institute.
Mob mentality occurs in The Lord of the Flies, especially when order is given to a group of people. “All at once the crowd swayed towards the island and were gone-following Jack. Even the tiny kids went and did their best among the leaves and broken branches” (Golding 38). This passage is showing leadership. The reader are also showing how Jack is the leader and everyone follows him and his orders.
The issue of mob mentality happens frequently as people depend too much on one another and easily get influenced by what the majority of the people think and decide. The internal or hidden pressure among the group is another factor that leads to why people follow the majority. As everyone started to change when “All at once the crowd swayed towards the island and were gone-following Jack. Even the tiny kids went and did their best among the leaves and broken branches” (Golding 38). Once Jack had become a stubborn dictator, one by one people started to follow him.
“The Twelve Angry Men,” are a small group. Several theories of group performance are shown in the movie “Twelve Angry Men,” but they are subject to interpretation and run a less evident. Social facilitation, group polarization and social loafing are evident within the
It is a natural human instinct to want to be acknowledge by your peers, yet it is also important to be a critical thinker. Irving Janis in 1972 created the term groupthink. He believed groupthink occurs inside a group of similar people that want to keep from being different, resulting in incoherent decision-making. The 1957 film "12 Angry Men," uses groupthink, which influenced the verdict vote in the case of a teenager accused of murdering his father. The purpose of this essay is to examine groupthink and to represent Dr. Irving Janis’ symptoms of groupthink in the film.