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 177
... syndrome ; they in- volve lack of constraints on collective uncritical thinking . Insofar as they are long - standing features of the organization , each of the three conditions can be ascertained before the ... Groupthink Syndrome 177.
... syndrome ; they in- volve lack of constraints on collective uncritical thinking . Insofar as they are long - standing features of the organization , each of the three conditions can be ascertained before the ... Groupthink Syndrome 177.
Page 197
... groupthink are present in at least a substan- tial percentage of all miscalculated executive decisions - governmental and nongovernmental , American and foreign . Often , the groupthink syndrome is likely to be only a contributing cause ...
... groupthink are present in at least a substan- tial percentage of all miscalculated executive decisions - governmental and nongovernmental , American and foreign . Often , the groupthink syndrome is likely to be only a contributing cause ...
Page 233
... groupthink syndrome were observed in the recorded deliberations of Nixon's White House group . It appears likely , therefore , that the groupthink syndrome is a probable cause of the defective decision - making that characterized the ...
... groupthink syndrome were observed in the recorded deliberations of Nixon's White House group . It appears likely , therefore , that the groupthink syndrome is a probable cause of the defective decision - making that characterized the ...
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