Groupthink: George W. Bush and Central Intelligence Agency

     What is groupthink? There is a simple definition for it, but is it truly that simple? The term groupthink refers to the inclination of group members to have the same opinions and beliefs; it frequently leads to mistakes. It often occurs without an individual being aware of it. Conflict is considered to be a harmful element when related to groups, but conflict is good when considering groupthink because it helps to eliminate the existence of a groupthink. The explanation sounds simple enough, but it is more complex than the description given.

Groupthink tends to produce self-censorship among the dissenters, as when FBI behavioral psychologist Peter Smerick changed his memos to support the aggressive "tactical" approach that his superiors wanted.

Throughout the history of the United States, groupthink has cluttered the country with questionable decisions by some of the most honorable leaders in history. Although high-level leaders show the most outstanding and shocking altercations of groupthink, this event can show up at a much lower level like a small group. Probably the most notable and recent culmination of groupthink, being the Iraqi War, provided the country with an onset of fear for an imminent threat regarding weapons of mass destruction within the Middle East. According to Weeks (2010), “One of the committee’s firm conclusions was that the Congress had

More specifically, whenever a group making policy displays most of the symptoms of Groupthink then "we can expect to find that the group also displays symptoms of defective decision-making. Seven such examples are as Janis states:

15. As the decision to launch a new product to prevent tooth decay was being debated, one of the product development specialists commented, “What a great product! We have created something that will help Americans maintain the enamel on their teeth. I don't know why those health critics are accusing us of putting a potentially harmful product out on the market. After all, our goal is to help people, not to hurt them. We're interested in doing what is in the best interest of the public.” She has demonstrated which of the following symptoms of groupthink?

Some spectators believe that the Trump administration is experiencing Groupthink; which is when a group goes from rational, reality based decisions to making irrational, non-reality based decisions because they are too cohesive (Fujishin, 2007, p. 157). Some believe this because many of the individuals President Trump is nominating for Cabinet come from the same military background, experiences, and in many cases they have a history

Legislative enactment of 1980, granted executive branch power to limit its notification channel to the minimum of eight members of congress—Gang of Eight. Erwin stated that limiting notification to the Gang of Eight should occur only in situations involving covert actions of such extraordinary sensitivity or risk to life that knowledge of such activity should be restricted to as few individuals as possible. The intention would ensure strong oversight while share President’s burden on difficult decision concerning significant activities. (Erwin 2013, 2).The issues I see in congressional oversight of the strategic covert action program is how and it what degree intelligence committee should know about covert actions. The congress’ concern is

“Groupthink being a coinage - and, admittedly, a loaded one - a working definition is in order. We are not talking about mere instinctive conformity - it is, after all, a perennial failing of mankind. What we are talking about is a rationalized conformity - an open, articulate philosophy which holds that group values are not only expedient but right and good as well (p. 114).”

After the terrorist attacks on 9/11 CIA interrogation tactics were heighten to rapidly expedite the extraction of information that could lead to the interception of a future terrorist attacks. The Bush Administration was in control during this period of time. The 9/11 attack was significant enough to be the defining change of the twenty first century when it comes to global security. Terrorism violates human rights and constitutes a serious challenge for liberal democracies (Masferrer pg. 1). This subject runs a fine line between human rights and national/international laws. There were a lot of unknowns about how brutal the techniques were of the CIA. The agency also lied to the White House and congress about how intensive their techniques

The term groupthink in this report is defined as, the social psychological phenomenon that results in groups during pressure situations. This social psychology theory is broken down into eight signs. Illusion of invulnerability, Collective rationalization, Belief in inherent morality, Stereotyped views of out-groups, Direct pressure on dissenters, Self-censorship, Illusion of unanimity, Self-appointed “mindguards”. According to research conducted by Irving Janis, there are three conditions to groupthink. The first, "high group cohesiveness" which is the direction for a group to be in unity while working towards a goal, or to satisfy the emotional needs of its members. Secondly, the structural faults such as insulation of the group, lack

It was interesting to read about groupthink (pg. 213) because I’ve seen many cases in which individuals conform to an answer for the sake of keeping “the peace,” instead of pushing for accurate analysis and critical evaluation. Anyhow, signs of Closed-Mindedness, particularly – Stereotypes of outside groups - is the most ethical danger sign to my work team. However, it is more accurate to say that it is a combination between collective rationalization and stereotypes of outside groups.

Groupthink is when the members of the group is greatly influenced by other members. This leads to risky shift, because if one of the members is doing violent acts, others may feel the pressure to do it as well. Even if they are not forced, they feel this want of being part of something that pushes them to do those violent acts. Just like the Asch conformity experiment found, people follow others in the group for fear of being ridiculed or different. In the case of the Kent State, those engaged in the riots, were influenced greatly by their own peers to destroy property. In some sense, they did not want to engage in violence, but it was present in those desiring a change. There seems to be no other option, but except to conform and engage in the actions everyone was doing. Personal morality and individuality was forgotten. The open crowd shooting by the guardsmen, who were attempting to control the situation, is another example of groupthink and risky shift. It can be assumed, that these guardsmen had no intention in killing anyone. But there was a higher authority who asked them to control the situation one way or another. Whoever started the shooting, in the group of guardsmen, caused the others to shoot as

Groupthink theory often occurs without the group’s realization. Irving Janis formed 8 different symptoms that indicate groupthink. The first of these symptoms is illusions of vulnerability. This occurs when members of the group are overly optimistic and believe that nothing negative will arise from their decision. Janis describes it as taking great risks and acquiring the attitude of “everything is going to be OK, because we are a special group”. Secondly we have belief in inherent morality. This symptom is characterized as the groups thought that they could do no wrong. They believe that they have high morality, that they are right in all situations and they ignore the ethical consequences that could arise because of their decisions. As the third

Furthermore, groupthink and group polarization also occurred in the movie. Groupthink is the tendency for members to reach solidarity, and the group often avoids questions that could lead to disputes (Iurchevici, 2016). In order for groupthink to occur, the group must be highly cohesive, in a group structure, and in a stressful situation (Kassin et al., 2013). All three of these were present in the movie, as the members of the group

This type of group mentality is referred to as “groupthink.” Group think, a concept discovered by Irving Janis, is the thought process that takes place among members of a cohesive group wherein they cease to consider their individual desires and instead respond according to group beliefs. This is done to ensure the solidity of the group. The members value this even more than their own views.