Groupthink in Science: Greed, Pathological Altruism, Ideology, Competition, and Culture

by David M. Allen (Editor), James W. Howell (Editor)

This book discusses one of the hottest topics in science today, i.e., the concern over certain problematic practices within the scientific enterprise. It raises questions and, more importantly, begins to supply answers about one particularly widespread phenomenon that sometimes impedes scientific progress: group processes. The book looks at many problematic manifestations of “going along with the crowd” that are adopted at the expense of truth. Closely related is the concept of pathological altruism or altruism bias―the tendency of scientists to bias their research in order to further the ideological or financial interests of an “in-group” at the expense of both the interest of other groups as well as the truth. The book challenges the widespread notion that science is invariably a benevolent, benign process. It defines the scientific enterprise, in practice as opposed to in theory, as a cultural system designed to produce factual knowledge. In effect, the book offers a broad and unique take on an important and incompletely explored subject: research and academic discourse that sacrifices scientific objectivity, and perhaps even the scientist’s own ethical standards, in order to further the goals of a particular group of researchers or reinforce their shared belief system or their own interests, whether economic, ideological, or bureaucratic.

299 pages, Hardcover

Published April 24, 2020

About the author

David M. Allen, M.D. is the author of the self-help book, Coping with Critical, Demanding, and Dysfunctional Parents: Powerful Strategies to Help Adult Children Maintain Boundaries and Stay Sane.

He is also the author How Dysfunctional Families Spur Mental Disorders: A Balanced Approach to Resolve Problems and Reconcile Relationships.

A contributor to Psychology Today at: http://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blo...

He is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and the former Director of Psychiatric Residency Training at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, a position he held for 16 years. Additionally, he has done research into personality disorders and is a psychotherapy theorist.

He is the author of three books for psychotherapists: A Family Systems Approach to Individual Psychotherapy, Deciphering Motivation in Psychotherapy, and Psychotherapy with Borderline Patients: an Integrated Approach, as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters.

He is a former associate editor of the Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. He received his medical degree from U.C. San Francisco, and his psychiatric residency at the Los Angeles County - University of Southern California Medical Center.