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 62
... MacArthur assumed that the Chinese had been bluffing all along and had pulled back out of weakness . Truman's advisers did not challenge MacArthur's optimistic interpretation of the mysterious disappearance , although they were puzzled ...
... MacArthur assumed that the Chinese had been bluffing all along and had pulled back out of weakness . Truman's advisers did not challenge MacArthur's optimistic interpretation of the mysterious disappearance , although they were puzzled ...
Page 63
... MacArthur's lines . The effective frontline strength of MacArthur's forces - stretched dangerously thin , as Secretary Marshall had pointed out at an earlier National Security Council meeting - numbered only one hundred thousand ...
... MacArthur's lines . The effective frontline strength of MacArthur's forces - stretched dangerously thin , as Secretary Marshall had pointed out at an earlier National Security Council meeting - numbered only one hundred thousand ...
Page 313
... MacArthur's directive should not be changed : Truman , 380 . " something strangely . . . this meeting " : McLellan , 32 . " prevailing confidence . . . the Yalu " : Ibid . , 33 . Change in expectations and concern about Chinese ...
... MacArthur's directive should not be changed : Truman , 380 . " something strangely . . . this meeting " : McLellan , 32 . " prevailing confidence . . . the Yalu " : Ibid . , 33 . Change in expectations and concern about Chinese ...
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Acheson administration Admiral Kimmel advisers advisory group Allen Dulles alternative American assumptions attack avoid Bay of Pigs bombing CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 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 group dynamics groupthink hypothesis groupthink syndrome groupthink tendencies Haldeman Hawaii Ibid in-group inner circle invasion plan Japanese Johnson Joint Chiefs Kennan Kennedy's Korean War leader 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 shared social Sorensen Soviet Union stereotypes stress symptoms of groupthink thinking threat tion transcripts Truman UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Vietnam Vietnam War warning Watergate cover-up White House group