Guilty as Charged?

“Highly cohesive groups frequently fail to consider alternatives to their course of action. When group members think similarly and do not entertain contrary views, they are also unlikely to share unpopular or dissimilar ideas with others. Groupthink suggests that these groups make premature decisions, some of which have lasting and tragic consequences.”

--Irving Janis

“Groupthink Theory” was developed by Irving Janis in the early 1970s. Groupthink is defined as a way of deliberating that group members use when their desire for unanimity overrides their motivation to assess all available plans of action. Janis contends group members frequently engage in a style of deliberating in which consensus seeking (need for everyone to agree) outweighs good sense. You may have participated in groups where the desire to achieve a goal or task was more important than developing reasonable solutions to problems. Janis believes that when highly similar and agreeable groups fail to consider fully any dissenting opinions, when they suppress conflict just so they get along, or when the group members do not consider all solutions, they are prone to Groupthink. He argues that when groups are “in” Groupthink, they immediately engage in a mentality to “preserve group harmony” according to Janis. To this end, making peace is more important than making clear and appropriate decisions.

In the development of Groupthink, Janis analyzed five matters of significant national importance: 1) the preparedness policies of the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor in 1941, 2) the decision to pursue the North Korean Army on its own territory by President Eisenhower, 3) the decision by President Kennedy to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs shortly after Fidel Castro established a communist government, 4) the decision to continue the Vietnam War by President Johnson, and 5) the Watergate cover-up by President Nixon.

Janis argues that each of these policy decisions was made by both the president and his team of advisors and because each group was under some degree of stress, they made hasty and what amounted to inaccurate decisions. He interviewed a number of people who were part of these teams and concluded that each of these policy fiascoes occurred because of groupthink. It was discovered that in each of these cases, the presidential advisors did not thoroughly test information before making their decisions.

According to Janis, the group members failed to consider forewarnings, and their biases and desire for harmony overshadowed critical assessments of their own decisions.

Some symptoms of Groupthink include the following:

• Overestimation of the group
•  Illusion of invulnerability
• Belief in the inherent morality of the group
• Closed-mindedness
• Out-group stereotypes
• Collective rationalization
• Pressure toward uniformity
• Self-censorship
• Illusion of unanimity
• Self-appointed mind guards
• Pressures on dissenters

Have you ever been in a small group with too much cohesiveness? If so, did Groupthink develop? If so, how did you know? If not, what prevented Groupthink from occurring?

How widespread is Groupthink? Do you believe society is aware of the problem?

Can you think of current examples of Groupthink that will likely have devastating consequences?

How can Groupthink be applied to popular (but factually incorrect) views on the American welfare system?

Thoughts?