Groupshift

Key takeaways

Groupshift belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Groupshift to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Groupshift from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Groupshift is a phenomenon in which the initial positions of individual members of a group are exaggerated toward a more extreme position. When people are in groups, they make decisions about risk differently from when they are alone. The decision made tends to be even more risk-averse if the group members' opinions are risk-averse on average, and even more risk-seeking if the group members' opinions are risk seeking on average. In a group, people are likely to exhibit a slight preference towards riskier decisions as the risk is divided among the group members rather than borne by an individual.

Overview An example of groupshift is when the fans of a sports team celebrate the win of their team and their celebration turns to destruction of property. What appears to happen in groups is that the discussion leads to a significant shift in the positions of members toward a more extreme position in the direction in which they were already leaning before the discussion; so conservative types become more cautious and the more aggressive types take on more risk. For example, one study examined what would occur if prejudiced students were asked to discuss racial issues and what would happen if non-prejudiced students discussed the same racial issues. The prejudiced students became more prejudiced whilst the non-prejudiced students became more non-prejudiced (Myers & Bishop, 1970). The group discussion tends to exaggerate the initial position of the group. This idea seems to relate quite well with the basic principles of groupthink, which is a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive group, when the members' strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action. Groupshift can be seen to be evident within groupthink as a sub-set of typical thinking patterns that occur in group situations and can be observed in society in situations such as student bodies, government, sporting teams and juries.

Origin The first term for groupshift, coined in the early 1960s, was risky shift and was used to describe the tendency for groups to take more risks than the individuals within these groups would have taken had they been faced with the same problem alone (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008). There were inconsistencies with early studies however, which led some researchers to introduce the term stingy shift, which was basically the same as a risky shift in that the group would tend to agree on the decision, however in this case, the decision was to be more conservative, or stingy (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008).

Causes There are varying explanations that attempt to provide a reason as to why groupshift occurs.

Group diffuses responsibility: a diffusion of responsibility throughout the group seems to give members of these groups a free rein to act as they see fit (Wallach, Kogan, & Bem 1964). The emotional bonds that are created within the group serve to decrease anxiety within the group and the actual risk of the situation seems less. Brown (1965) indicates that social status in groups is often associated with risk-taking, leading people to avoid a low risk position. Collins and Guetzkow (1964) suggested that high risk-takers are more confident and hence may persuade others to take greater risks. Bateson (1966) suggests that as people pay attention to a possible action, they become more familiar and comfortable with it and hence perceive less risk. The size of the group also has an effect on how susceptible the group will be to polarization. The greater the number of people in a group, the greater the tendency toward deindividuation. In other words, deindividuation is a group-size-effect. As groups get larger, trends in risk-taking are amplified. Scientific research also suggests that males are greater risk-takers than females (Wilde 1994) a trait that likely has both physiological and social roots. Numerous accident statistics support this assertion. For example, in the period 1984–1996 in Canada, 90% of avalanche fatalities were male (Jamieson & Geldsetzer, 1996).

Using the risky shift Whatever the cause of the risky shift phenomenon or the worries regarding the generality of the phenomenon, the point of interest is that individuals may be manipulated in their decision making. The mechanism causing the post-discussion group shift causes a change in the perception of the problem domain by some or all of the group members.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Groupshift

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Groupshift claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Groupshift before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Groupshift ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Groupshift

In research: Groupshift appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Groupshift in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Groupshift is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cognitive biases, Group processes, Industrial and organizational psychology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Groupshift outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Groupshift in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Groupshift means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Groupshift out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Groupshift in simple terms?

Groupshift is a phenomenon in which the initial positions of individual members of a group are exaggerated toward a more extreme position. When people are in groups, they make decisions about risk differently from when they are alone.

Why does Groupshift matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Groupshift?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Groupshift.