Groupthink Research Paper

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

3. Group think is a concept that involves individuals abandoning their critical senses and agreeing to group process even when they know it will have disastrous consequences. (Challenger disaster, Enron, Iraq war, etc.). Your will encounter these pressures in your work life and need to be prepared. Have you ever done something in a group that you would not have done if you were alone? What happened? How did you feel? What have you learned from this chapter that might help you avoid this behavior in the future, and avoid group think?

Groupthink can and will creep into every group, no matter the size or type. Psychologist Irving Janis, the first person to coin the term groupthink, described eight symptoms of groupthink. These symptoms include illusions of invulnerability, collective rationalization, belief in inherent

Bush, asserted that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), multiple Iraqi human rights violations stemming from the WMDs, and the suspected Iraqi support for al-Qa’ida, who had been previously chased out of Afghanistan. After the initial invasion, however, U.S.-led Coalition Forces were unable to locate any significant evidence of WMDs. Back in the U.S., investigative committees subsequently concluded that Iraq possessed no WMDs and did not harbor any connections to terrorist organizations. Moreover, Hussein had been successful at evading capture despite an intensive manhunt, and U.S. forces seemingly were unable to play a domestic security role, further leading to the dissolution of Iraqi security services and ushering in widespread looting and disorder. This highlighted that the invasion of Iraq was not be an easy victory as originally surmised. Since that time, many scholars have focused on the effects of the Iraq War, speculating on the Bush Administration’s motives for the decision. While some within scholarly circles have attributed the invasion of Iraq to groupthink, a theory that has recently become a staple in understanding foreign policy disasters, there is little literature that has been applied to the rationality of the decision to invade and whether groupthink influenced the decision-making process. Therefore, this paper will seek to examine the decision to launch the invasion of Iraq and the clearly failed planning for the occupation of the

If a person’s actions disturb the group’s cohesiveness, he will feel guilty and as though his behavior is not positive, even if it was intended to be. Conformity, which is a factor involved in groupthink, is when a person alters his behavior to accord with the socially accepted standards, while groupthink is when the desire of group members to reach an amicable consensus hinders good decision-making and progress. In a 1951 experiment on conformity by Solomon Asch, a group of people, in which all but one participant were confederates to the study, were asked to judge the length of lines. The confederates all answered incorrectly, and at least 75 percent of the actual subjects conformed to using the incorrect answer. In attempt to study groupthink, psychologist Irving Janis researched the United States’ decision to invade Cuba in 1961 with a very meager force, a terrible decision made by an excellent group of people. All of the people in this group, although knowing it was a bad decision, felt they were good people for not interrupting the flow of the group. Both of these concepts surround the desire to not ‘rock the boat’. The sinking of the Titanic is an important example of groupthink in history. The agreement that lifeboats were unnecessary due to the ships unsinkability was most likely caused by groupthink. According to economist Dan Cravens, “The ship’s

When groupthink does in fact occur, it is because the “group’s balance tilts towards maintaining cohesiveness and harmony rather than toward thinking critically.” (Galanes & Adams, 2013, p. 268) The resultant outcome of groupthink usually has negative impacts. According to social psychologist Irving Janis, there are eight documented symptoms of groupthink: Illusion of invulnerability, Collective rationalization, Belief in inherent morality, stereotyped views of out-groups, direct

Stephen King was quoted as saying, “The scariest moment is always just before you start.” A plane crash is bad enough; throw into the mix that the plane crash landed in a vast desert far away from anyone and anything. The team showed great cohesiveness in its ability to get through the groupthink and group shift behaviors. In this paper, groupthink and group shift behaviors will be discussed. This paper will cover points to show how through both behaviors the group will remain cohesive and put aside any individual needs and focus more on the needs of the group. Even though the situation will be tough, the team will plan, find harmony and put their brains together to find ways to survive.

As stated by Janice, groupthink refers to when group members, as a group, make a bad decision even though as individuals they know that it is a poor decision (as cited by Spector, 2012, p. 315). Factors that can cause groupthink include group cohesiveness, isolation of the group, pressure for conformity, and strong leadership (Spector, 2012, p. 315). Inside Out represented groupthink when Anger took control while Sadness and Joy were away from headquarters. Anger wanted to give Riley the idea of running away to Minnesota because that is where she collected all of her happy memories. Disgust and Fear were against the idea at first, but due to time pressure, the pressure of conformity, and Angers’ strong leadership, Disgust and Fear gave in to Angers’ plan to get Riley to Minnesota. When the decision was made and Riley ran away, it became obvious how terrible of a decision Disgust, Fear, and Anger made as Riley became

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

     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.

In Cain’s essay, she discusses the issue of the new trend of group thinking. Her main focus is the way that the forced groupthink effects people, and lessens their abilities to creatively think. She backs up her points by showing various instances where the individuals mind was not allowed to flourish. Cain argues that this new idea of groupthinkng is harmful to the individual

A group is more vulnerable to groupthink when its members have similar backgrounds, when the group has minimal exposure to outside opinions, and when decision making rules are unclear. According to Janis’s theory, the concurrence-seeking tendency of close-knit groups can often lead to inferior decisions because of failure to explore viable alternatives. However, Janis also believed that not all bad group decisions are the result of groupthink, and not all cases of groupthink end up with poor decisions.

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

Hello John, Thank you for hiring me and giving me the opportunity to be a part of your team! When an organization is effected by groupthink, a group is not able to consider minority perspectives, the group in the long run gets to be useless and can't successfully finish the choice making procedure, which incorporates measuring option arrangements with expectations of picking the best choice. This concealment of restricting perspectives in the end prompts unreasonable and unsound choices, which have a tendency to be more compelling, radical, and unsafe to the usefulness, prosperity, and life span of the group. Although groupthink involves restricting opinions, it is not actively and intentionally pursued. Instead, groupthink is a psychological

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.