Abilene paradox attitudes towards them if they do not go along. This action-anxiety arises from what Harvey termed "negative fantasies"—unpleasant visualizations of what the group might say or do if individuals are honest about their opinions—when there is "real risk" of displeasure and negative consequences for not going along. The individual may experience "separation anxiety", fearing exclusion from the group. The theory is often used to help explain extremely poor group decisions, especially notions of the superiority of "rule by committee". For example, Harvey himself cited the Watergate scandal as a potential instance of the Abilene paradox in action. The Watergate scandal
A-group A-group In mathematics, in the area of abstract algebra known as group theory, an A-group is a type of group that is similar to abelian groups. The groups were first studied in the 1940s by Philip Hall, and are still studied today. A great deal is known about their structure. An A-group is a finite group with the property that all of its Sylow subgroups are abelian. The term A-group was probably first used in , where attention was restricted to soluble A-groups. Hall's presentation was rather brief without proofs, but his remarks were soon expanded with proofs in .