Free Essay On 'in Group We Shrink' By Carol Tavris

Analysing the essay
Analysing the essay
What happens when we confront a frenzied man on road who is shouting- we stare, feel weird for a moment and wait for someone to ask him about the matter, don’t we? Similarly, everyone waits for someone to take measure. Hence, no quick and necessary reaction is seen. That’s what Carol Tavris has tried to convey so efficiently through his essay ‘In Group We Shrink’. The first two lines of the third stanza very clearly state his thesis- ‘Something happens to individuals when they collect in a group. They think and act differently than they would on their own.’ In the above example, you or I would have bothered to ask the frenzied man about his problem if we were alone in the road. That’s what Carol Tavris has elucidated through many poignant examples- change in behaviour as one becomes the part of a group.
Carol believes that there are reasons why a group behaves that way. As told earlier as well, each member of group wants someone else to initiate the reaction/response. They feel embarrassed or at risk to be the one who breaks the silence and seeks attention. He backs up his thesis with numerous instances. Through the shameful example of Kitty Genovese’s brutal murder, he explained how people choose to be dumb onlookers but not call someone for aid while criminals stabbed a woman to death. He strengthens his thesis by sharing the results of two experiments in behavioural psychology. A room was filled with smoke as a part of experiment.
As told by Carol, “Students who were on their own usually hesitated a minute, got up, checked the vents and then went out to report what certainly seemed like fire. But the students who were sitting in groups of three did not move. They sat there for six minutes, with smoke so thick they could barely see, rubbing their eyes and coughing.” In the second experiments where a lady in next room pretended to scream in pain due to an injury, again the bystanders chose to take no action. And what the excuses were- “I didn't want to embarrass her.”