GROUPTHINK THEORY

PRESENT BY:HUSNA HAZWANI BINTI ZAKARIA 172424

SITI SHAHIRAH BINTI MOHD SALLEH 172904

Irving Lester Janis

• Born : May 26, 1918, Buffalo, New York, United States• Married to : Marjorie Janis, had two daughters. • Died : He died of lung cancer on November 15, 1990.• Education : Columbia University (1940–1948), University of Chicago.• most famous for his theory of "groupthink" which described the

systematic errors made by groups when making collective decisions.• - a research psychologist at Yale University and a Professor

Emeritus At The University of California, Berkeley

Awards:

Socio-Psychological Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1967.

Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association in 1981.

Society of Experimental Social Psychology’s Distinguished Scientist Award in 1991.

HIS BOOKS

Victims of Groupthink

1972Crucial

Decisions1989

HISTORY OF THEORY-• Janis starting with his research in the American Soldier Project where he

studied the effect of extreme stress on group cohesiveness. • After his study he remained interested in the ways in which people make

decisions under external threats. • This interest led Janis to study a number of "disasters" in American foreign policy,

such as failure to anticipate the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (1941); the Bay of Pigs Invasion fiasco (1961); and the prosecution of the Vietnam War (1964–67) by President Lyndon Johnson.

• He concluded that in each of these cases, the decisions occurred largely because of groupthink, which prevented contradictory views from being expressed and subsequently evaluated.

• After the publication of Janis' book Victims of Groupthink in 1972,and a revised edition with the title Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes in 1982, the concept of groupthink was used to explain many other faulty decisions in history.

• These events included Nazi Germany's decision to invade the Soviet Union in 1941, the Watergate Scandal and others.

• This is surprising considering how many fields of interests it spans, which include political science, communications, organizational studies, social psychology, management, strategy, counseling, and marketing.

• explain this lack of follow-up in that group research is difficult to conduct, groupthink has many independent and dependent variables, and it is unclear "how to translate theoretical concepts into observable and quantitative constructs."

WHAT IS GROUPTHINK THEORY??

• Groupthink, a term coined by social psychologist Irving Janis (1972)• occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group

pressures lead to a deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment” .

• Groups affected by groupthink ignore alternatives and tend to take irrational actions that dehumanize other groups. A group is especially vulnerable to groupthink when its members are similar in background, when the group is insulated from outside opinions, and when there are no clear rules for decision making.

Symptoms of Groupthink• Illusion of invulnerability –Creates excessive optimism that

encourages taking extreme risks.• Collective rationalization – Members discount warnings and do not

reconsider their assumptions.• Belief in inherent morality – Members believe in the rightness of

their cause and therefore ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their decisions.

• Stereotyped views of out-groups – Negative views of “enemy” make effective responses to conflict seem unnecessary.

• Direct pressure on dissenters – Members are under pressure not to express arguments against any of the group’s views.

• Self-censorship – Doubts and deviations from the perceived group consensus are not expressed.

• Illusion of unanimity – The majority view and judgments are assumed to be unanimous.

• Self-appointed ‘mindguards’ – Members protect the group and the leader from information that is problematic or contradictory to the group’s cohesiveness, view, and/or decisions

Remedies for GroupthinkDecision experts have determined that groupthink may be prevented by adopting some of the following measures:      a) The leader should assign the role of critical evaluator to each member      b) The leader should avoid stating preferences and expectations at the outset      c) Each member of the group should routinely discuss the groups' deliberations with a trusted associate and report back to the group on the associate's reactions      d) One or more experts should be invited to each meeting on a staggered basis.  The outside experts should be encouraged to challenge views of the members.      e) At least one articulate and knowledgeable member should be given the role of devil's advocate (to question assumptions and plans)      f) The leader should make sure that a sizeable block of time is set aside to survey warning signals from rivals; leader and group construct alternative scenarios of rivals' intentions.

THANK YOU!!TERIMA KASIH!!

DANKE !!