Esoteric sociological peer-pressure related terminology?

November 27, 2005 4:26 PM

obscure sociological concept: I seem to recall at some point learning that there is a specific name for when two people (or a group) engage in an activity that neither individual is interested in because they each believe that the other feels strongly about the activity.

This is maybe not quite how it works, but it is similar. I have no idea where I heard the reference, but it was a few years ago and it might have been in reference to specific instances of wartime crime. I have no idea how to even begin googling this one.

posted by cmyr to writing & language (5 comments total)

Groupthink?
posted by Who_Am_I at 4:32 PM on November 27, 2005

That would be the Abilene Paradox. There is a funny film of this somewhere. We used to use it in team and group dynamics education.
posted by jeanmari at 4:33 PM on November 27, 2005

Yep. Here's the film.
posted by jeanmari at 4:36 PM on November 27, 2005

Wow, that was fast! Fascinating stuff; too bad there doesn't seem to be a good way to tag it so it can be easily found again. I'll just try to remember Abilene; I have a friend from there, and he's pretty paradoxical, so it shouldn't be too hard.
posted by languagehat at 5:46 PM on November 27, 2005

That's interesting. It's always hard to be sure, but I think I can recall Abilene dates and Abilene surgical operations I've participated in in the past. :)
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:11 PM on November 27, 2005