Groupthink — MRCPsych Paper A MCQ

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ModeratePsychologyGroupthinkMRCPsych Paper A

During a ward-management meeting, a cohesive team rapidly agrees to continue a restrictive practice proposed by senior members. At a later debrief, several staff report that they had independently identified serious objections but withheld them because they feared disrupting team unity. Their silence was interpreted as unanimous support. Which social-psychological process best explains the decision?

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Correct answer: B — Groupthink

The correct answer is **E, groupthink**. It occurs when pressure for cohesion and consensus within a group discourages critical evaluation. The discriminating features are that members privately recognised objections, censored themselves to preserve unity, and their silence created an appearance of unanimity. Diffusion of responsibility reduces an individual's sense of personal accountability but does not specifically explain suppressed dissent. Countertransference concerns a clinician's emotional response to a patient. The availability heuristic involves judging likelihood according to how easily examples come to mind. Operant extinction is the reduction of learned behaviour after reinforcement is withdrawn. The vignette therefore describes a defective group decision-making process rather than an individual cognitive heuristic or learning mechanism.

Reference: DiPierro K, Lee H, Pain KJ, Durning SJ, Choi JJ. Groupthink among health professional teams in patient care: A scoping review. Medical Teacher. 2022;44(3):309-318. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34641741/