The committee for hiring faculty is reviewing applications for the new faculty position in the psychology department. The short list includes three people, the first two of which are very qualified, and the third a little less so. The department desperately needs a new person to take some of the tremendous teaching load for next semester so the committee really needs to make a decision today. Among the group there are strong opinions, both positive and negative, about the top two candidates but everyone finally agrees that they can "live with" the less qualified person, so that person is offered the job. The committee, in their strong desire to seek agreement, fell sway to
A)Social facilitation
B)Group polarization
C)Groupthink
D)The fundamental attribution error

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The committee's decision-making process is an example of groupthink, where the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. In this case, they settled on the less qualified candidate because it was the option that everyone could agree on, rather than making a decision based on the merits of the candidates.

The Committee for Hiring Faculty Is Reviewing Applications for the New