The Abilene Paradox is ______________?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The Abilene Paradox describes a situation where a group collectively endorses a course of action that none of the members actually desire, due to miscommunication, social pressure, and pluralistic ignorance.

1) Relevant concepts and knowledge points
- Abilene Paradox: coined by management professor Jerry B. Harvey (1974); illustrated by an anecdote about a family taking an unwanted trip to Abilene because each member believed the others wanted to go.
- Related ideas: groupthink, conformity, pluralistic ignorance, diffusion of responsibility, and failed communication in group decision-making.
- Key outcome: the group chooses an action that satisfies nobody, because individuals suppress true preferences to avoid conflict or because they mistakenly assume others favor the action.

2) Step-by-step reasoning
- Recall the Abilene anecdote: family members agree to a trip none actually wanted, each assuming others wanted it.
- Extract the principle: the story serves as a metaphor for how groups can make decisions counter to individual preferences due to social dynamics.
- Map the principle to the answer choices: identify which choice captures the idea of misdirected influence and miscommunication.

3) (No calculations required.)

4) Why the correct answer is correct
- Option "A metaphor for how we can be incorrectly influenced by others" precisely captures that the Abilene Paradox is a conceptual story used to illustrate how social pressures and mistaken beliefs about others’ desires lead to collectively poor decisions. It emphasizes influence, misperception, and group decision dynamics—core elements of the paradox.

5) Why the other options are incorrect
- "A story of a day trip that went very wrong": Although the illustrative anecdote involves a trip, the paradox is not simply a literal tale about a bad day trip; it is a metaphorical lesson about group behavior.
- "A statement about how bad Abilene was in the past": Incorrect—this misinterprets the term as historical criticism of the town of Abilene rather than a social-psychological concept.
- "A fairy story": Incorrect—this trivializes the concept; the Abilene Paradox is a management/psychology metaphor, not a fictional fairy tale.

6) Conclusion
The correct choice is "A metaphor for how we can be incorrectly influenced by others," which matches the provided answer.

The Abilene Paradox is ______________?单项选择题

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