Essay on ‘12 Angry Men’ Psychology

‘12 Angry Men’-Group Influence:

The movie 12 angry men revolves around a jury that must arrive at a verdict, either guilty or not guilty for an 18-year-old boy who has been accused of murdering his father. The members of the jury have to take a cohesive and unanimous decision on the verdict. Enough evidence, proof, and the boy's weak alibi make it seem like he has committed the crime.

Type of Group-

This group of 12 members is formed for a purpose and once they accomplish this purpose, the group will dissolve. Almost every scene in the movie happens to be shot in a courtroom in a formal setting so we can identify this as a formal group that is formed on the basis of certain rules and regulations.

Group Conflict-

Group conflicts start to occur when the members of the jury take a vote on the verdict (ie: guilty or not guilty) for the first time. 11 of them give a guilty verdict and only 1( #8) gives a not-guilty verdict. From here on the quarrel and the disagreements begin.

Conformity-

Conformity is when a person's belief or behavior changes in order to fit in a group. Here, conformity is noticeable when the jury was asked to vote for the first time and when most of them voted guilty, The few other members namely: #2, #4, #5, #9, and #11 raised their hands slowly and also voted for guilty conforming to the majority, except for #8. And also when juror #8 was persuaded or “compelled” throughout the movie.

Deindividuation-

A group of 12 is enough for members to lose their self-awareness. No one really notices you in a large group. The fact that almost everyone came up with different interpretations led to deindividuation. Deindividuation literally means de-individuation, you’re removing or withdrawing yourself from the group and you’re unleashing behaviors that are against the norms. Here, juror #3 almost stabbed juror #8 with a knife which is unusual behavior.

Social Influence in Groups-

Social influence is present in the group right from the beginning when the jurors are starting to conform with other jurors. A few reasons why people or in this case jurors are being influenced are:

1. Informational influence- informative social influence occurs when juror #12, a smart, well-dressed advertising businessman depicts a character as being easily affected by others’ decisions and which in turn causes him to get influenced by their persuasive facts. This happens when juror #5 demonstrates an act using the murder weapon, a switchblade.
2. Normative influence- normative social influence is also mildly present. The jurors who dint raise their hands as quickly as the few other jurors at the time of voting probably felt the need to be accepted and the desire to be liked.

Social Facilitation-

In terms of explaining social facilitation with regard to “12 angry men”, when a weak man of high intellect is confronted with many questions he is unable to answer, all because of the presence of others. Social facilitation is also found when the jurors were asked to write their verdict on a piece of paper, in which anonymity was present, and this led juror #9 to vote not guilty. Here, we can see that the mere presence of others will not let us be different from the rest, except for juror #8 as he was confident and strong-headed with his verdict right from the start.

Social loafing-

Social loafing can be seen in the film when one of the members doodles on a paper. This scene clearly shows that he’s uninterested and not bothered about the discussion going on.

Group Polarisation-

Group polarization is clearly seen throughout the film when juror #8 votes not guilty and somehow through nonstop arguments, quarrels and discussions, persuades the rest of the 11 to a not-guilty verdict. In spite of the fact that the consistency of the minority’s decision also supported this verdict till the last.

Groupthink-

When conformity within a group leads to dangerous results, it is called groupthink.

In this case, What if the boy did not murder his father but because of groupthink, he had to be convicted? And What If the boy had actually committed the crime but due to “conformity went wrong” the boy or should I say a murderer is let to roam on the streets?

Symptoms of Groupthink-

There are 8 symptoms of groupthink in total and most of them can be related to the movie.

Illusion of Invulnerability

The fact that juror #8 persuaded his whole group with determination and perseverance can be an illusion of invulnerability to members who were hesitant and not so sure about their opinions.

Illusion of Morality

The illusion of morality is noticed when members participating in the group discussion tend to lose sight of their moral principles. Here, juror #3 almost stabbed juror #8 with a knife which is immoral and not a right act. There was also a case in which Juror #4 accused the boy of murdering his father wholly based on the fact that he grew up in slums.

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Stereotyping

The most obvious symptom that was noticeable is the act of stereotyping. An argument that occurred from one of the men that favored ‘guilty’ stated that the boy was obviously guilty of murdering his father, wholly based on the fact that the boy grew up in the slums where such crimes happen all the time.

Conformity pressure

Juror #3 who was always in favor of convicting the young boy intimidated others with his verbal harassment. Although, he himself changed his verdict in the end.

Self-censorship

Self-censorship is when you avoid voicing out your opinions to avoid judgments. In the film, we can see many jurors who are hesitant and skeptical to tell anything at all.

Illusion of Unanimity

Self-censorship often contributes to an illusion of unanimity. Here, when a few members were silent or hesitant, it made the others see ‘silence’ as consent.

Mindguards

The man who was in favor of sentencing the boy to death continued to ignore all the new facts even when presented with supporting evidence.

The Influence of the minority-

The influence of the minority group can be seen throughout the course of the movie, the film started off with only one person being a minority with his verdict as not guilty and slowly the members started adding up to it. Why is that so?

Consistency

Juror #8 kept proving his point no matter what, was not hesitant at all, and did not change his verdict whatsoever. This proves that consistency is key to persuading others. And juror #8 did a pretty good job on that!

Self Confidence

Juror #8 was so self-assured and confident with his verdict. By being firm and forceful, the minority’s apparent self-assurance may prompt the majority to reconsider its position.

Personal Experiences-Group Influence:

Group influence can be noticed or experienced in our day-to-day life, it is present in all types of groups and it is for no good.

Social Loafing is something everyone notices/experiences, and also is the most common thing to do. One of the incidents I remember is an English song (group singing) in school. It’s an event that happens every year, and they judge on the basis of how well the group sings and not individually. Students lip-sync, mime, blabber, blurt out random words, and whatnot. The individuals who do that will not be accountable or questioned for his/her act. Here the term free rider can also be used, where the individual benefits without putting in the effort.

Deindividuation can sometimes be terrifying and can be seen in films wherein a person is trying to commit suicide and is standing on the window sill, he may hear people shout “DO IT!”, and “JUMP!!! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” This happens only when it is a large crowd because no one really notices you and you lose yourself. It’s almost like mob mentality.

Social Facilitation is also very common and people experience it all the time. It occurs in exam hauls, track fields, etc. I experienced it when I was trying for my driver’s license and had to parallel park! I’m not good at it but manageable, I was so nervous and went blank.

A few Symptoms of Groupthink can also be noticed or experienced in our everyday life, like ‘stereotyping’ ex: when one of my friends had to agree on a small business start-up idea with another friend and that idea would’ve never worked, ‘illusion of invulnerability’ can also be seen with regard to the same example as to how her friend persuaded her by making it sound like the best decision of their life. ‘Self-censorship’ is also something that many of us do, That is we just stay silent and do not say anything. Ex: When I was part of a play. I’ve not been in many before but I have a basic idea, it was 6 of us and when the rest of them came up with ideas I stayed silent, even though the ideas dint seem great I did not utter a word.

Being influenced is of no good, especially in groups, where you have the right to voice out your opinions.