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 216
... transcripts were shared expressions of frustration or antagonism directed against political enemies , never against anyone else within the group . The transcripts of the meetings are filled with friendly chatter , joking , and shared ...
... transcripts were shared expressions of frustration or antagonism directed against political enemies , never against anyone else within the group . The transcripts of the meetings are filled with friendly chatter , joking , and shared ...
Page 235
... transcripts . . . make no sense if one seeks the working of sequential minds . " And speaking more generally about that month of crisis , White portrays the trio's chaotic planning sessions in these terms : The transcripts , read them ...
... transcripts . . . make no sense if one seeks the working of sequential minds . " And speaking more generally about that month of crisis , White portrays the trio's chaotic planning sessions in these terms : The transcripts , read them ...
Page 321
... Transcript " refers to the unedited transcripts of the meetings and telephone conversations - which inserted a number of in- criminating statements that had been left out along with all the deleted expletives in the laundered White ...
... Transcript " refers to the unedited transcripts of the meetings and telephone conversations - which inserted a number of in- criminating statements that had been left out along with all the deleted expletives in the laundered White ...
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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