A crowd of angry football fans, often referred to as hooligans, taking extreme measures to destroy public property just because their team lost a Saturday night game. If it would have been one angry fan, his anger won’t be extreme enough to take such a measure. But because he was part of a large group, he, and hundreds others like him become a party to a public crime. This is one of several group polarization examples that we’ll expose you to, today.
Have you ever wondered how riots are caused? How a group of large crowds resort to doing something destructive collectively?
Well, trouble usually arises when an angry mob assembles and act in extreme (or polar) ways that becomes the crowd mentality. This is a high level representation of group polarization.
Below is an explanation of group polarization to help you understand the concept better.
Table of Contents
What is Group Polarization?
This phenomenon discusses how groups resort to making decisions that are more extreme in nature as compared to individual entities.
It highlights how the thoughts and actions of a group are more impactful than the views and ideas of individual team members. For instance, if the members of a group are cautious, the final decision is likely to be incredibly conservative.
Or say, if most of the group members comprise of people who indulge in risky and an extreme behaviour, the final outcome may be a destructive.
How does group polarization occur?
Various theorists have worked together to explain how this phenomenon takes place. The two theories mentioned below explains how the process occurs:
Normative Influence
According to this theory, people tend to change their ideas and opinions in a group because they want to fit in and be accepted. In fact, individuals first take out the time to analyze and evaluate groups to extract popular opinions. After doing so, individuals mimic popular behaviour or possess leadership qualities in an extreme form. The loop continues as other members of the group also follow the lead.
Informational Influence
This theory states that people usually gather information for both sides of an argument before entering a discussion. People are likely to alter their opinion depending on the information they have processed. This usually happens when people aren’t sure about which side to go for. People then support opinions that make more sense to them.
Real Life Examples of Group Polarization
To help you gain a better understanding, here are a few real-life examples of group polarization:
Example 1
Sally is a middle-aged woman who doesn’t like smoking because it’s unhealthy. Currently, this opinion of her’s is mild and doesn’t her normal routine. However, when Sally is placed in a group where the subject is under discussion, she is likely to respond aggressively with the other team members. Being a part of a group will strengthen Sally’s opinions which may result in drastic outcomes. For example, this may cause Sally to form a protest group to ban smoking in her workplace.
Example 2
Group polarization can also be observed in cyber wars and online discussions. When Pepsi posted the infamous things become viral on the internet.
Example 3
While there are many factors that led to the Holocaust, group holocaust is said to be among the most notable ones. Hitler used media to propagate hate speech which eventually led to the formation of many extremists groups. In its full potential, these extremists groups were capable of carrying out the most inhumane actions, something a single individual would not be able to do alone. This is why media plays an important role in propagating ideas during war-times.
Example 4
Have you ever wondered why there are so many human right activist groups as opposed to people who are working independently to make a difference? Well, it’s all because of group polarization. Individually, a person may hold a mild opinion about issues but when these people form a group, their opinions transpire into actions and become more powerful.
Example 5
The chaos caused by an angry mob is a clear example of group polarization. Being part of a group can push people into exhibiting violent behavior. Whereas most of these people probably wouldn’t be capable of mimicking the same behavior individually. This is why law enforcers try their best to break mobs to prevent further damage.
Other real-life group polarization examples include mob mentality, acts of terrorism, peer pressure and collective decisions made by a jury.
How to Overcome Group Polarization
The effects of this phenomenon can be curtailed assembling a diverse group. Additionally, participants should not have already been indoctrinated to support a specific point of view. This can be done by including members of different age groups, ethnic backgrounds, and disciplines.
Can you think of any other real-life examples of group polarization? Tell us about it in the comment section below.
Picture Credits: YouTube
