Scientific Definition
Groups sometimes behave as foolishly as the worst individuals.
Plain-English Definition
Groups sometimes behave as foolishly as the worst individuals.
Feynman Explanation
A thousand people can be wrong with breathtaking confidence.
Core Principle
Groups sometimes behave as foolishly as the worst individuals.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Groups sometimes behave as foolishly as the worst individuals.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Boards and teams can reinforce collective delusion.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
A thousand people can be wrong with breathtaking confidence.
Examples
- A mob of investors drives a stock to irrational heights.
- Boards and teams can reinforce collective delusion.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Appoint independent critics and reward dissent.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Appoint independent critics and reward dissent.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Influencing the beliefs and actions of a crowd through psychological techniques.
A group decides on a course of action that nobody actually wants, because everyone assumes others prefer it.
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
We attribute our own actions to situations but others' actions to their character.
We favor people who are similar to us or who like us.
Sacrificing for others without expecting a personal reward.
Masking the sponsors of a message to make it appear grassroots.
Disagreement grows more extreme as the parties think more about the issue.
Systematic errors in explaining the causes of behavior — yours or others'.
We accept vague, general statements as personally meaningful.
Adding the word 'because' (with any reason) increases compliance dramatically.
Behaviors spread through groups via observation and imitation.