Peer Pressure and Group Think

veggiezombiex:

In 2005, neuroscientist Gregory Berns used an fMRI machine to image people’s brains as they were engaged in a group decision making process (emphasis mine):

Peer pressure, in other words, is not only unpleasant, but can actually change your view of a problem. These early findings suggest that groups are like mind-altering substances. If the group thinks the answer is A, you’re much more likely to believe that A is correct, too. It’s not that you’re saying consciously, “Hmm, I’m not sure, but they all think the answer’s A, so I’ll go with that.” Nor are you saying, “I want them to like me, so I’ll just pretend that the answer’s A.” No, you are doing something much more unexpected—and dangerous. Most of Berns’s volunteers reported having gone along with the group because “they thought that they had arrived serendipitously at the same correct answer.” They were utterly blind, in other words, to how much their peers had influenced them.

— from Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Susan Cain, p. 92.

Also:

A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.

— Men in Black, Agent Kay