What occurs when group members' initial inclinations lead to more extreme group decisions?

Group polarization is the phenomenon where the initial inclinations or opinions of group members become more extreme following group discussion. When individuals with similar viewpoints come together, the tendency is for their shared ideas to be amplified, leading to more radical decisions than any member might have made alone. This occurs as members reinforce each other's beliefs, through both social validation and the desire to conform to the group dynamic. As a result, discussions within the group often escalate the intensity of opinions, which can lead to heightened commitment to a decision or strategy.

This process highlights the influence of group dynamics on individual thoughts and judgments, illustrating how social contexts can shape decisions in profound ways. In contrast, the other concepts listed focus on different aspects of social psychology, such as the inefficiencies of teamwork in process loss, the sharing of information within groups in transactive memory, and the historical perspective of individual exceptionalism in Great Person Theory. Understanding group polarization provides insight into how collective environments can significantly shift and shape decision-making processes.