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 45
Why would President Kennedy give preferential treatment to the two CIA
representatives ? Why would Bundy , McNamara , Rusk , and the others on his
team fail to challenge this preferential treatment and accept a taboo against
voicing critical ...
Why would President Kennedy give preferential treatment to the two CIA
representatives ? Why would Bundy , McNamara , Rusk , and the others on his
team fail to challenge this preferential treatment and accept a taboo against
voicing critical ...
Page 283
I surmise from all that has been reported about the exuberant confidence of
Kennedy and his team , as well as their minimization of the major risks , that the
leader , as well as members of the inner circle , shared an illusion of
invulnerability of ...
I surmise from all that has been reported about the exuberant confidence of
Kennedy and his team , as well as their minimization of the major risks , that the
leader , as well as members of the inner circle , shared an illusion of
invulnerability of ...
Page 318
Major criteria for sound decision - making : See the discussion of defective
decisionmaking in Chapter 1 , pp . 9 - 10 . Kennedy ' s dangerous “ game of
chicken ” : Horowitz , 284 – 287 . " emerged from . . . political consequences ” :
Ibid . , 286 .
Major criteria for sound decision - making : See the discussion of defective
decisionmaking in Chapter 1 , pp . 9 - 10 . Kennedy ' s dangerous “ game of
chicken ” : Horowitz , 284 – 287 . " emerged from . . . political consequences ” :
Ibid . , 286 .
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Contents
Why So Many Miscalculations? | 2 |
The Bay of Pigs | 14 |
Or Why the Fortress Slept | 72 |
Copyright | |
4 other sections not shown
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Common terms and phrases
accept according action administration Admiral advisers alternative American appears asked assumptions attack avoid Bay of Pigs become called Chiefs cohesive Committee concerning consensus consequences continued course cover-up crisis critical Cuba Cuban danger Dean decision decision-making Defense deliberations Department discussion effect errors evidence example Executive expected fact factors feel fiasco forces give groupthink Haldeman invasion involved issues Japanese Johnson judgment Kennedy leader leading major March meetings military missile moral Nixon norms North objections officers operation participants Pearl Harbor policy-making political position possible present President pressures probably problem procedures proposed questions responsible result risks role says Secretary seems Senator shared social Soviet staff stress strong suggested symptoms of groupthink thinking threat tion transcripts Truman United Vietnam warning Watergate White House
References to this book
Bibliographic information
| Title | Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes |
| Author | Irving Lester Janis |
| Edition | 2, illustrated, revised |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin, 1982 |
| ISBN | 0395317045, 9780395317044 |
| Length | 349 pages |
| Subjects | › Psychology / Social Psychology |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |