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 142
members of the group deliberately asked them to give their reactions during the
discussions. Meetings of subgroups As a special device to facilitate critical
thinking, the Executive Committee was sometimes broken up into two subgroups.
members of the group deliberately asked them to give their reactions during the
discussions. Meetings of subgroups As a special device to facilitate critical
thinking, the Executive Committee was sometimes broken up into two subgroups.
Page 170
How did Kennan's policy-planning group avoid succumbing to the strong
concurrence-seeking tendency that gives rise to the various symptoms of
groupthink? - We can make only some tentative surmises about the critical
conditions that make ...
How did Kennan's policy-planning group avoid succumbing to the strong
concurrence-seeking tendency that gives rise to the various symptoms of
groupthink? - We can make only some tentative surmises about the critical
conditions that make ...
Page 262
The leader of a policy-forming group should assign the role of critical evaluator to
each member, encouraging the group to give high priority to airing objections
and doubts. This practice needs to be reinforced by the leader's acceptance of ...
The leader of a policy-forming group should assign the role of critical evaluator to
each member, encouraging the group to give high priority to airing objections
and doubts. This practice needs to be reinforced by the leader's acceptance of ...
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Contents
Or Why the Fortress Slept | 72 |
The Cuban Missile Crisis | 132 |
The Making of the Marshall Plan | 159 |
Copyright | |
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accepted 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 direct discussion effect evidence example Executive expected fact factors feel fiasco forces give going 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 |
| Original from | the University of California |
| Digitized | 30 Jan 2007 |
| ISBN | 0395317045, 9780395317044 |
| Length | 349 pages |
| Subjects | › Psychology / Social Psychology |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |