Practice question · Multiple choice
A committee of moderately cautious people discusses a decision and emerges more cautious than any member started. A committee of mild risk-takers emerges bolder. What is happening?
Hints
- Ask which arguments get voiced in a room that already leans one way, and which stay unsaid.
- The shift is in the direction the group already leaned. What does that rule out?
Show the answer
D. Group polarisation, as discussion validates the existing lean
Why
Deliberation is expected to moderate and often does the opposite: the arguments raised are disproportionately the ones the room already favours, and hearing them confirms rather than tests. It is why juries drift, why committees rarely land in the middle, and part of why algorithmic feeds are worrying.
Practise Group Dynamics: Polarization, Groupthink, and Performance
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More questions on Group Dynamics: Polarization, Groupthink, and Performance
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