Table 1 Major strategic group biases,... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1

Major strategic group biases, based on the summary of Bang and Frith (2017)

Group bias	Definition	Causes and symptoms	Author(s)
Groupthink	A mindset that group members display when they prefer harmony to dissent	There are two main reasons for groupthink: either group members are too similar or they are too close. While group members strive for unity, they ignore the limits of the decision they have made, overestimate their chances of success, or do not consider alternatives	Cristofaro (2016), Jones and Roelofsma (2000), Mintz and Wayne (2016)
Social influence	A phenomenon in which individuals are influenced by the people with whom they interact and change their behavior or attitude	The effect is based on the herding theory as the tendency of individuals to imitate the actions of others. Three different types influence the behavior of group members: (1) Conformity is an individual's desire to belong to a group and occurs when individuals feel pressure to behave in a way that allows them to be rewarded or escape punishment. (2) Identification occurs when individuals adopt the behavior of a respected or successful group, ignoring their own instincts. This assumption also explains (3) internalization, which expresses the (un)conscious decision to adopt the behavior or opinions of others	Barsade (2002), Wang et al. (2013)
Hidden profile paradigm	The tendency of a group to focus on information that is shared by all group members	Groups reduce the amount of information instead of considering the totality of information of all group members. Necessary information remains “hidden” and is not known to all group members, although information should be shared to increase mutual knowledge and thus find the best alternative solution	Kerr and Tindale (2004), Lam and Schaubroeck (2011), Schulz-Hardt et al. (2006)
Group polarization	The phenomenon that occurs when original positions or preferences in a group mutually reinforce each other	In group discussions, individuals base their opinions on the arguments of others. People tend to confirm the opinion of the majority and avoid expressing counterarguments in order to escape social risks. Uncertainty about one's own preferences leads one to seek the arguments of others. If the majority is favorable to risk, the group decision may be riskier (risky shift) than if each group member had decided individually and vice versa (cautious shift)	Jones and Roelofsma (2000), Wang et al. (2018)
Competing goals	The bias when an individual is more concerned with his own motives than with making a good decision for the group	Causes for this effect may be that individuals do not voice their concerns so as not to jeopardize their reputation or status within the group or because they expect to have to justify their arguments. Competing goals can lead to going along with the majority opinion, regardless of one's own preference and wasting valuable resources and information	Tetlock et al. (1989), Bang and Frith (2017)
Social loafing	A motivational construct in which a person exerts less effort when working in a group than when working alone	Dissatisfaction with management and one's job can promote social loafing. Lack of measurability of individual results, lack of opportunities to evaluate results and lack of uniqueness of individual results reduce the effort individuals put into working in groups. Individuals are more likely to reduce effort when they know that others are limiting their contribution to success, which is why they are not doing their best	Meyer et al. (2016), Mihelič and Culiberg (2019)
False consensus	The tendency of a person to overestimate his or her similarity to others	False consensus occurs when group members overestimate the likelihood that others will act in the same way and have the same opinion, view and preference, and therefore, they are part of the majority. This leads to the assumption that everyone chooses the same information bases, resulting in biased decisions	Jones and Roelofsma (2000), Ross et al. (1977), Roth and Voskort (2014)
Escalating commitment	The tendency of an individual to invest resources even though there is evidence that the action will fail	This effect is caused by psychological, organizational, cultural and economic factors. Individuals may stick to their decisions despite signs of failure: personal responsibility, self-protection or refusal to admit mistakes, the belief that the situation will improve despite negative feedback, or the urge to preserve one's reputation	Jones and Roelofsma (2000), Huang et al. (2019), Montecinos-Pearce et al. (2020)

Group bias	Definition	Causes and symptoms	Author(s)
Groupthink	A mindset that group members display when they prefer harmony to dissent	There are two main reasons for groupthink: either group members are too similar or they are too close. While group members strive for unity, they ignore the limits of the decision they have made, overestimate their chances of success, or do not consider alternatives	Cristofaro (2016), Jones and Roelofsma (2000), Mintz and Wayne (2016)
Social influence	A phenomenon in which individuals are influenced by the people with whom they interact and change their behavior or attitude	The effect is based on the herding theory as the tendency of individuals to imitate the actions of others. Three different types influence the behavior of group members: (1) Conformity is an individual's desire to belong to a group and occurs when individuals feel pressure to behave in a way that allows them to be rewarded or escape punishment. (2) Identification occurs when individuals adopt the behavior of a respected or successful group, ignoring their own instincts. This assumption also explains (3) internalization, which expresses the (un)conscious decision to adopt the behavior or opinions of others	Barsade (2002), Wang et al. (2013)
Hidden profile paradigm	The tendency of a group to focus on information that is shared by all group members	Groups reduce the amount of information instead of considering the totality of information of all group members. Necessary information remains “hidden” and is not known to all group members, although information should be shared to increase mutual knowledge and thus find the best alternative solution	Kerr and Tindale (2004), Lam and Schaubroeck (2011), Schulz-Hardt et al. (2006)
Group polarization	The phenomenon that occurs when original positions or preferences in a group mutually reinforce each other	In group discussions, individuals base their opinions on the arguments of others. People tend to confirm the opinion of the majority and avoid expressing counterarguments in order to escape social risks. Uncertainty about one's own preferences leads one to seek the arguments of others. If the majority is favorable to risk, the group decision may be riskier (risky shift) than if each group member had decided individually and vice versa (cautious shift)	Jones and Roelofsma (2000), Wang et al. (2018)
Competing goals	The bias when an individual is more concerned with his own motives than with making a good decision for the group	Causes for this effect may be that individuals do not voice their concerns so as not to jeopardize their reputation or status within the group or because they expect to have to justify their arguments. Competing goals can lead to going along with the majority opinion, regardless of one's own preference and wasting valuable resources and information	Tetlock et al. (1989), Bang and Frith (2017)
Social loafing	A motivational construct in which a person exerts less effort when working in a group than when working alone	Dissatisfaction with management and one's job can promote social loafing. Lack of measurability of individual results, lack of opportunities to evaluate results and lack of uniqueness of individual results reduce the effort individuals put into working in groups. Individuals are more likely to reduce effort when they know that others are limiting their contribution to success, which is why they are not doing their best	Meyer et al. (2016), Mihelič and Culiberg (2019)
False consensus	The tendency of a person to overestimate his or her similarity to others	False consensus occurs when group members overestimate the likelihood that others will act in the same way and have the same opinion, view and preference, and therefore, they are part of the majority. This leads to the assumption that everyone chooses the same information bases, resulting in biased decisions	Jones and Roelofsma (2000), Ross et al. (1977), Roth and Voskort (2014)
Escalating commitment	The tendency of an individual to invest resources even though there is evidence that the action will fail	This effect is caused by psychological, organizational, cultural and economic factors. Individuals may stick to their decisions despite signs of failure: personal responsibility, self-protection or refusal to admit mistakes, the belief that the situation will improve despite negative feedback, or the urge to preserve one's reputation	Jones and Roelofsma (2000), Huang et al. (2019), Montecinos-Pearce et al. (2020)