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. |
From inside the book
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Page 10
... alternative courses of action ( often only two ) without a survey of the full range of alternatives . Second , the group does not survey the objectives to be fulfilled and the values implicated by the choice . Third , the group fails to ...
... alternative courses of action ( often only two ) without a survey of the full range of alternatives . Second , the group does not survey the objectives to be fulfilled and the values implicated by the choice . Third , the group fails to ...
Page 63
... alternative views of what Red China might really be up to , which could have led them to deliberate about the need for changing their military and political strategy . One neglected alternative was that the Chinese withdrawal might be ...
... alternative views of what Red China might really be up to , which could have led them to deliberate about the need for changing their military and political strategy . One neglected alternative was that the Chinese withdrawal might be ...
Page 143
... alternatives : " Surely , " he asserted , " there was some course in between bombing and doing nothing . " In response to this prod from the Attorney General , the group consider- ably broadened the spectrum of alternative responses to ...
... alternatives : " Surely , " he asserted , " there was some course in between bombing and doing nothing . " In response to this prod from the Attorney General , the group consider- ably broadened the spectrum of alternative responses to ...
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Common terms and phrases
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