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 158
... groupthink.3 It seems prob- able that if groupthink tendencies had become dominant , the group would have chosen a much more militaristic course of action and would have put it into operation in a much more provocative way , perhaps ...
... groupthink.3 It seems prob- able that if groupthink tendencies had become dominant , the group would have chosen a much more militaristic course of action and would have put it into operation in a much more provocative way , perhaps ...
Page 186
... groupthink tendencies are to be found among policy - makers only in America . Is there reason to believe that group- think is not limited to just one country ? Actually , it is simply a matter of happenstance that all the examples of ...
... groupthink tendencies are to be found among policy - makers only in America . Is there reason to believe that group- think is not limited to just one country ? Actually , it is simply a matter of happenstance that all the examples of ...
Page 300
... groupthink tendencies and cohesiveness is represented by the ascending ( solid - line ) curve . The assumption that groupthink tendencies can be partially counteracted is represented by the dashed line , which shows the expected ...
... groupthink tendencies and cohesiveness is represented by the ascending ( solid - line ) curve . The assumption that groupthink tendencies can be partially counteracted is represented by the dashed line , which shows the expected ...
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