Why Do People Conform to Groupthink?
People won’t speak up in democratic groups unless we address this root problem
In 1986, the Challenger space shuttle disaster shocked the world, claiming seven lives. Investigations revealed that engineers had concerns about the O-ring seals but didn’t speak up forcefully, buckling under pressure to agree with the group.
That’s groupthink. It happens when people favor group harmony over honest critique—and it leads to bad decisions, from corporate disasters to political mistakes.
Most “fixes” miss the point. Open forums, brainstorming sessions—they try to encourage more talking. But the real issue is deeper: a lack of self-confidence hardwired into us by evolution and reinforced by modern society.
To break groupthink, we have to solve that.
Why Groupthink Happens
Evolutionary Survival Instincts
Humans are built to conform. Thousands of years ago, staying close to the group meant survival. Go it alone, and you’d likely starve or get eaten. That instinct still lives in us.
When we’re uncertain, we follow the crowd. In the 1950s, Solomon Asch’s experiments showed this clearly—people agreed with obviously wrong answers about line lengths just to fit in. We’d rather be wrong together than right alone.
That instinct gets stronger when confidence is low.
Even as kids, many of us struggle to trust our judgment. A child won’t pick a game, scared others will laugh. That hesitance carries into adulthood. Without confidence, we treat group opinion as a safety net. And that opens the door to groupthink—where doubts keep us quiet, not rules.
Societal Reinforcement
Society doubles down on this behavior. From school to work, people are often cast into roles: leaders speak, others follow. And that reinforces the idea that it’s better to comply than to challenge.
In hierarchies, people hesitate to disagree with managers. In more casual setups, social norms push people to agree with the group. No one wants to be the outlier.
This split between leaders and followers builds a belief over time: others probably know better. When that belief sticks, people start holding back even when they have something worth saying.
Confidence stays low. Groupthink wins.
Why Democratic Structures Aren’t Enough
Democratic groups—teams, governments, even friend circles—are built to encourage open debate. People can speak up, vote, disagree. That should prevent groupthink. But it doesn’t.
Because the real issue isn’t lack of opportunity. It’s lack of belief in your own voice.
Take a team meeting. The manager invites feedback. But most people stay quiet, thinking others know better. That’s not a system flaw—it’s a confidence issue, built on the instincts and patterns described earlier.
Open-door policies and anonymous surveys help on the surface. But they don’t solve the cause.
A 2018 study in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes found something telling: in collaborative teams, people with low confidence were still less likely to speak up—even when the environment encouraged it.
If people don’t believe their opinion matters, they’ll stay silent no matter how many structures are in place.
Leaders can push for openness. But if individuals don't trust themselves, the room stays quiet. Groupthink isn’t just a leadership problem. It’s a psychological one.
Address the Root Problem
To beat groupthink, build confidence.
That means helping people trust their judgment and feel safe challenging group consensus. Two areas matter most: critical thinking and balancing our built-in instincts with a sense of personal agency.
Foster Critical Thinking
Teaching critical thinking early makes a difference.
Schools can use Socratic seminars to help students get comfortable asking questions. Workplaces can run communication workshops where people practice sharing unpopular opinions.
These efforts build habits—and habits build confidence.
Companies can also bake dissent into how decisions get made. Assign a rotating “devil’s advocate” role in meetings. Use anonymous platforms to gather input. At Pixar, for example, this kind of process helps fuel creative ideas by making disagreement normal.
The goal: make speaking up routine, not rare.
Balance Survival Instincts with Self-Confidence
We’ll always want to belong to the group. But we can teach people to trust themselves alongside that.
Start by making it clear that different ideas are welcome. Publicly appreciate people who offer a different take—especially when they challenge the norm. A manager highlighting a critique as helpful can shift how the whole team thinks about dissent.
Culture matters too.
We should celebrate people who question things—whistleblowers, critics, inventors—not just those who go along. When that becomes the story, people feel safer saying what they really think.
Over time, that shapes a different kind of group. One where conformity isn’t the default.
Actionable Steps
Offer training: Teach critical thinking and assertive communication.
Structure dissent: Use “devil’s advocate” roles and anonymous feedback to make disagreement standard.
Highlight independent thinking: Praise contributions that challenge group norms.
Build habits: Encourage people to push back on one small group decision a day.
Final Takeaway
Groupthink thrives when confidence runs low.
It’s baked into our biology and reinforced by how society works. Even in democratic groups, people often stay quiet—not because they’re silenced, but because they doubt themselves.
Fixing groupthink isn’t about more meetings or better suggestion boxes. It’s about giving people the confidence to speak up.
Start there. Challenge one decision today. That small act might be the shift your team—or your company—needs.