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 10
... defective decisions by the United States government I have examined . Each clearly meets two impor- tant criteria for classifying a decision as a candidate for psychological analysis in terms of group dynamics : Each presents numerous ...
... defective decisions by the United States government I have examined . Each clearly meets two impor- tant criteria for classifying a decision as a candidate for psychological analysis in terms of group dynamics : Each presents numerous ...
Page 11
... defective decision - making . Nor do I expect that every defective decision , whether arising from groupthink or from other causes , will produce a fiasco . Defective decisions based on misinformation and poor judgment sometimes lead to ...
... defective decision - making . Nor do I expect that every defective decision , whether arising from groupthink or from other causes , will produce a fiasco . Defective decisions based on misinformation and poor judgment sometimes lead to ...
Page 245
... defective decision - making ( box D ) . The set of antecedent conditions shown in the first column is to be in- terpreted in the following way : When a group is moderately or highly cohesive ( box A ) , the more of the antecedent ...
... defective decision - making ( box D ) . The set of antecedent conditions shown in the first column is to be in- terpreted in the following way : When a group is moderately or highly cohesive ( box A ) , the more of the antecedent ...
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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