April 12th, 2011
Groups often fail to outperform individuals because they prematurely move to consensus, with dissenting opinions being suppressed or dismissed.
-Hackman & Morris, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
Exposure to minority dissent increases individual courage to resist group pressures to conformity.
-Nemeth, Chiles (1988) European Journal of Social Psychology
Minority dissent, even dissent that is wrong, stimulates divergent thought. Issues and problems are considered from more perspectives and group members find more correct answers.
-Nemeth, Staw (1989) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
The debating of dissenting issues consequent to different approaches and perceptions associated with cognitive diversity has been found to stimulate divergent thinking, which is closely linked to creative output.
-Nemeth, Nemeth-Brown (2003) Group Creativity, Oxford University Press