Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and FiascoesGroupthink - the psychological drive for consensus at any cost that suppresses disagreement and prevents the appraisal of alternatives in cohesive decision-making groups. In the first edition (Victims of groupthink), Iriving L. Janis showed how this phenomenon contributed to some of the major U.S. foreign policy fiascos of recent decades: the Korean War stalemate, the escalation of the Vietnam War, the failure to be prepared for the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the Bay of Pigs blunder. He also examined cases, such as the handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the formulation of the Marshall Plan, where groupthink was avoided. Here, in this revised and expanded edition, Janis applies his hypothesis to the Watergate cover-up, portraying in detail how groupthink helped to put the participants on a disastrous couurse and keep them there. In addition, he presents some fresh ideas on how and why groupthink occurs and offers suggestions for avoiding it. |
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Page 10
... course of action . I assume that these seven defects and some related features of inadequate decision - making result from groupthink . But , of course , each of the seven can arise from other common causes of human stupidity as well ...
... course of action . I assume that these seven defects and some related features of inadequate decision - making result from groupthink . But , of course , each of the seven can arise from other common causes of human stupidity as well ...
Page 136
... course of action they ini- tially preferred ; ( 6 ) reexamined the positive and negative consequences of all the main alternatives , including those originally considered unacceptable , before making a final choice ; and ( 7 ) made ...
... course of action they ini- tially preferred ; ( 6 ) reexamined the positive and negative consequences of all the main alternatives , including those originally considered unacceptable , before making a final choice ; and ( 7 ) made ...
Page 238
... courses of action , partly because the members feel that they should not examine in the leader's presence all the detailed ramifications of a shady course of action that is under consideration . Worse yet , each member would have little ...
... courses of action , partly because the members feel that they should not examine in the leader's presence all the detailed ramifications of a shady course of action that is under consideration . Worse yet , each member would have little ...
Contents
Why So Many Miscalculations? | 2 |
The Bay of Pigs | 14 |
The Wrong | 48 |
Copyright | |
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Acheson administration Admiral Kimmel advisers advisory group Allen Dulles alternative American assumptions attack avoid Bay of Pigs bombing Castro Chiefs of Staff Chinese cohesive group Communist concurrence-seeking consensus course of action critical Cuba Cuban missile crisis danger Dean Defense deliberations discussion effect Ehrlichman enemy evidence Executive Committee expected fiasco forces group dynamics groupthink hypothesis groupthink syndrome groupthink tendencies Haldeman Hawaii Ibid in-group inner circle invasion plan Japanese Johnson Joint Chiefs judgment Kennan Kennedy's Korean War leader MacArthur's major Marshall Plan McNamara meetings military moral naval Nixon norms North Korea North Vietnam officers participants Pearl Harbor Pentagon Papers policy-making group political present President Kennedy President's pressures problem procedures psychological questions responsible risks Robert Kennedy role Rusk Schlesinger Secretary social Sorensen Soviet Union stereotypes stress symptoms of groupthink thinking threat tion transcripts Truman United Vietnam Vietnam War warning Watergate cover-up White House group Wohlstetter