It’s related to otherization and also to the focusing illusion.
I think that this is something you often see in small, relatively isolated municipalities but also in certain other situations and organizations. Individuals are no longer supposed to form their own opinions but follow the group think.
Groups like 4chan suffer from it too. They may engage in massive negative action without even spending a thought on the immense damage that it may do. Collectively, they decide on an opinion and take action on the basis of what is often a completely unfounded mere opinion or myth.
If you speak with such people as an outsider, they can come across rather robot-like and it’s almost impossible to have a proper dialogue with them.
In England, an example of municipal group think is the opinion that Travellers constitute a danger and must be chased away asap. Nobody ever questions this in such a setting.
