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“Bipolar groupthink”: Assessing groupthink tendencies in authentic work groups
Abstract
Research on regressive group processes such as Janis' (1982) "groupthink" phenomenon has rarely focused on work groups in authentic settings. In this study, teams from six different organisations (n = 308) were studied by using a groupthink questionnaire constructed in accordance with the symptoms of groupthink described by Janis. It was hypothesised that groupthink could be described as a bipolar construct identifying either an omnipotent or a depressive variant of a group's delusions about its own and other groups' features. The questionnaire showed reasonably good reliability as a whole and a factor analysis identified three factors in line with the proposed theoretical model in which the two different types of groupthink can be distinguished. We propose that any group might have a tendency or predisposition to react in either of the two directions during provocative circumstances. The six different organisations exhibited different types of groupthink to a varying degree. A religious sect was the one most characterised by omnipotent groupthink, while a technological company and a psychiatric team seemed to be the ones with most features of depressive groupthink.
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In the citing paper
“According to this construct, groupthink theory has omnipotent and depressive variants.”
From Groupthink among health professional teams in patient care: A scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as Rosander et al., 1998
In the citing paper
“The depressive variant displays passivity to a leader and delusions about its own and other groups’ features.”
From Groupthink among health professional teams in patient care: A scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as Rosander et al., 1998
In the citing paper
“The omnipotent variant is closest to Janis’s visualization of a cohesive group, which displays feelings of optimism and superiority over other groups.”
From Groupthink among health professional teams in patient care: A scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as Rosander et al., 1998
In the citing paper
“This bipolar groupthink dynamic was tested via questionnaires, which found that the nursing staff tended toward the mean between omnipotent and depressive groupthink poles, whereas the psychiatric team showed a tendency toward the depressive groupthink pole.”
From Groupthink among health professional teams in patient care: A scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as Rosander et al., 1998
In the citing paper
“Rosander et al. observed six different working groups”
From Groupthink among health professional teams in patient care: A scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as Rosander et al., 1998
In the citing paper
“first proposing an alternative framework to Janis’s theory, whereby groupthink should be described as a bipolar construct”
From Groupthink among health professional teams in patient care: A scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as Rosander et al., 1998
In the citing paper
“We identified four empirical studies on groupthink among health professional teams in patient care—two quantitative studies and two qualitative studies (Table 2) (Allen, 2018; Harmon et al., 2019; Rosander et al., 1998; Snell, 2010).”
From Groupthink among health professional teams in patient care: A scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as Rosander et al., 1998
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Groupthink among health professional teams in patient care: A scoping review
DiPierro, K., Lee, H., Pain, K. J., Durning, S. J., & Choi, J. J. (2022) · Medical Teacher · doi:10.1080/0142159x.2021.1987404 · Cited by 48
Akhmad, M., Chang, S., & Deguchi, H. (2021) · Journal of Computational Social Science · doi:10.1007/s42001-020-00083-8 · Cited by 18
Metadata
- Authors
- Rosander, M., Stiwne, D., & GranstrÖM, K.
- Affiliations
- Linköping University (SE)
- ORCID
- Rosander, Michael
- Venue
- Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1998-06
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 81-92
- ISSN
- 0036-5564 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9450
- OpenAlex
- W2043138156
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2023: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Scandinavian Journal of Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Team Dynamics and Performance
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Conflict Management and Negotiation
- Keywords
- groupthink, work teams, religious sects, mental health teams, technology companies
- MeSH terms
- Bipolar Disorder, Humans, Surveys and Questionnaires, Thinking
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: “Bipolar groupthink”: Assessing groupthink tendencies in authentic work groups. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1111/1467-9450.00060
- The paper
- Rosander, M., Stiwne, D., & GranstrÖM, K. (1998). “Bipolar groupthink”: Assessing groupthink tendencies in authentic work groups. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9450.00060
