{"id":16514,"date":"2022-11-04T03:09:37","date_gmt":"2022-11-04T03:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/?p=16514"},"modified":"2023-05-17T17:10:55","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T17:10:55","slug":"groupthink-examples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/groupthink-examples\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Groupthink Examples (Plus Definition &amp; Critique)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"724\" src=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/groupthink-examples-definition-1024x724.jpg\" alt=\"groupthink examples definition\" class=\"wp-image-17818\" srcset=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/groupthink-examples-definition-1024x724.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/groupthink-examples-definition-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/groupthink-examples-definition-768x543.jpg 768w, https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/groupthink-examples-definition.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>Groupthink is a type of thinking when members of a group accept the group consensus uncritically. It can lead to disastrous conclusions because moral and logical thinking is suspended.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Group members often take the group\u2019s competence and unity for granted, thereby failing to use their own individual thought. Alternatively, they might not want to avoid punishments associated with expressing dissent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Groupthink might lead groups to reach more extreme or wrong decisions that only some members genuinely support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Groupthink Definition and Theoretical Origins<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>The term \u201cgroupthink\u201d was coined in 1952 by William Whyte to describe the perils of \u201crationalized conformity\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, American psychologist Irving Janis introduced the comprehensive theory of groupthink in 1972.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It emerged from his effort to understand why knowledgeable political groups often made disastrous decisions (especially in foreign policy). Janis defined groupthink as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c\u2026the mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence seeking becomes so dominant in a <a href=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/group-cohesion\/\">cohesive ingroup<\/a> that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.\u201d (1972, p. 9)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Essentially, a lack of conflict or opposing viewpoints leads to poor decisions. The group doesn\u2019t fully analyse possible alternatives, gather external information, or seek external advice to make an informed decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Groupthink then has negative effects. It marks \u201ca deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment that results from ingroup pressures\u201d (Janis, 1972, p. 9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Characteristics of Groupthink<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Janis, the key characteristics of groupthink are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\">\n<li>The illusion that a group is invulnerable, fully competent, and coherent<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/rationalization-sociology-examples\/\">rationalization<\/a> of collective decisions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>An unquestioned belief in the group\u2019s integrity,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/types-of-stereotypes\/\">Stereotyping<\/a> group adversaries or outsiders,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The existence of \u201cmindguards\u201d blocking alternative information and options <a href=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/belief-perseverance-examples\/\">which leads to belief perseverance<\/a>,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Self-censorship<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">10 Groupthink Examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Real-world examples<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>American officials did not anticipate or adequately prepare for <strong>the Pearl Harbor bombing<\/strong> in 1941. They ignored external information that the Japanese were planning an attack, thinking they would never dare to fight the American \u201csuperpower\u201d.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>escalation of the Vietnam War <\/strong>in the 1960s resulted from the U.S. government&#8217;s feelings of invincibility, underestimating the opponent\u2019s abilities, and ignoring opposing viewpoints.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Challenger disaster.<\/strong> In 1986, miscalculations regarding the launch of the Challenger shuttle claimed the lives of 7 people. Space shuttle engineers knew about the shuttle\u2019s faulty parts but they did not block the launch because of public pressure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Bay of Pigs invasion<\/strong>. Suffering from the illusion of invulnerability and based on faulty assumptions the Kennedy administration launched an unsuccessful attack against Cuba. &nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/homogenous-society\/\">homogenous<\/a> (yet experienced) team of American decisionmakers decided to <strong>go to war in Iraq<\/strong>. Their illusion of invulnerability and moral righteousness led them to disregard intelligence information about weapons of mass destruction.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fictional examples<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Employees not speaking up in a work meeting because they don\u2019t want to seem unsupportive of their team\u2019s efforts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Students not opposing to a strict professor\u2019s views or behavior because they\u2019re concerned about how this might affect their grades.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A political organization has a firm ideological agenda. Their sources of information are limited to those aligned with their ideology. This group might come to distrust and even inflict violence on outgroup members with different political views.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Members of a close-knit group might ignore or underestimate information that challenges their decisions. They might try to shut down any group member who brings a different perspective.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Launching an offensive advertising campaign for a consumer product because employees don\u2019t articulate their dissent. They were worried about how this could impact their career. However, their view could save the company\/organization from making a mistake.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Case Studies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. The Challenger disaster<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>In the 1980s, NASA earlier debuted a space shuttle program that would be accessible to the public. They have even planned for more than 50 affordable flights a year.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first shuttle, name Challenger was planned to take off in January 1986. Space shuttle engineers knew about certain faulty parts before the take-off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And yet, they did not block the launch because of public pressure to proceed. In its effort to avoid negative press, NASA\u2019s Challenger mission claimed seven lives\u2014while the nation was watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. The Bay of Pigs invasion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>A famous example of Groupthink is the ultimately unsuccessful attack against Cuba in 1961.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The J. F. Kennedy administration launched the attack by accepting negative stereotypes about the Cubans and Fidel Castro\u2019s incompetence (Janis, 1972). They did not question whether the Central Intelligence Agency information was accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond stereotyping, Kennedy\u2019s administration thought itself untouchable. Although the plans to invade the Bay of Pigs had leaked out, they carried on ignoring the adverse warning signs (Janis, 1972).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, individual members, like Secretary of State Dean Rusk, did not voice their contrary opinion in group discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bay of Pigs Invasion showcases three characteristics of groupthink: (i) the <strong>illusion<\/strong> of <strong>invulnerability<\/strong>, (ii) <strong>stereotyping<\/strong> of the opponent and (iii) <strong>self-censorship<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. The bombing of Pearl Harbour<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>Another real-life scenario of groupthink discussed by Janis is the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1941.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Japanese messages had been intercepted. And yet, many senior officials at Pearl Harbor did not pay attention to the warnings from Washington DC about a potential Japanese attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They didn&#8217;t act or prepare because they rationalised that the Japanese wouldn&#8217;t never attempt such an invasion. They were sure that the Japanese would see the \u201cobvious\u201d futility of entering a war with the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, they failed to prepare for the bombing of Pearl Harbour, which claimed many lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The symptoms of groupthink are: (i) <strong>stereotyping<\/strong> the adversary\u2019s ineptitude, (ii) <strong>illusions<\/strong> of <strong>invincibility<\/strong> leading to excessive risk taking (Janis, 1972),.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. The escalation of the Vietnam War<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>The escalation of the Vietnam War was also studied by Janis as a manifestation of <a href=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/social-dysfunction-sociology-examples\/\">dysfunctional<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/group-dynamics-examples\/\">group dynamics<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, U.S. government officials during the war considered themselves untouchable despite having suffered multiple failures and financial\/human losses. They ignored the dangers and negative feedback, blindly trusting the military advantage of the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also stereotyped their enemies, deeming them unable to make correct decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>President Johnson felt that the U.S. was leading a \u201cjust war\u201d, defending its ally, South Vietnam, from the Soviet threat. They saw the escalation of war as morally correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ultimate purpose was to show to the rest of the world the unanimity of the Americans in fighting again Communist expansionism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. An offensive marketing campaign<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>A modern example of Groupthink is a politically incorrect marketing campaign,<\/strong> <strong>imagine a company seeking to launch a new marketing campaign for a consumer product. Other team members appear excited about and pleased with the campaign, but you have some concerns. You feel it might be offensive to some demographic groups.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You don&#8217;t speak up because you like your colleagues and want to avoid putting them in an awkward position by challenging their idea. You also want your team to succeed. Anyway no one seems to consider other possible marketing plans, while the dynamic team leader firmly pushes for this campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At that point, you choose to go along with the group and start doubting that your idea is correct. This fictional example illustrates key symptoms of groupthink: (i) group <strong>cohesion<\/strong>, (ii) <strong>self<\/strong>&#8211;<strong>censorship<\/strong>, (ii) the \u201c<strong>mindguard<\/strong>\u201d (team leader) <strong>banning alternative opinions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Causes of Groupthink<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It should be clear from the above that the main causes of groupthink are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Highly cohesive and\/or non-diverse groups<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>An influential leader who feels \u201cinfallible\u201d and suppresses dissenting information<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Decision-making under stress or time constraints<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Non-consideration of outside perspectives<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Efforts to maintain\/boost group members\u2019 self-confidence<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Criticisms of Groupthink Theory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"featurebox\"><strong>Despite the significant uptake of Janis&#8217; Groupthink model in the social sciences, many scholars have criticized its validity (Kramer, 1998). Scholars have found that decision-making processes only sometimes define ultimate outcomes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not all poor group decisions result from groupthink. Similarly, not all cases of groupthink result in failures or &#8216;fiascoes&#8217; to use Janis&#8217; wording. In some cases, scholars have found that being in a cohesive group can be effective; it can boost members&#8217; self-esteem and speed up decision-making (Fuller &amp; Aldag, 1998).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, previous research has challenged Janis&#8217; model. However, groupthink has been very influential in understanding group dynamics and poor decision-making processes in a much broader range of settings than initially imagined (Forsyth, 1990).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Groupthink is a process in which the motivation for consensus in a group causes poor decisions\u2014made by knowledgeable people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of expressing dissent and risking losing a sense of group unity, members stay silent. They subscribe to views\/decisions they disagree with. Therefore, groupthink prioritizes group harmony over independent judgment and might rationalize immoral actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although groupthink often leads to bad (even unethical) decisions, group leaders should try avoid groupthink by creating diverse and inclusive groups, enabling members to voice their views without fear, and considering opposing views seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Forsyth, D. (1990). <em>Group dynamics<\/em> (2nd ed.). Pacific Grove, Calif: Brooks\/Cole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fuller S.R, &amp; Aldag R.J. (1998). Organizational Tonypandy: Lessons from a Quarter Century of the Groupthink Phenomenon. <em>Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes<\/em>, 73(23), 163-184.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Janis, I. (1982). <em>Groupthink: Psychological studies of policy decisions and fiascoes<\/em> (2nd ed.). Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kramer, R. M. (1998). Revisiting the Bay of Pigs and Vietnam Decisions 25 Years Later: How Well Has the Groupthink Hypothesis Stood the Test of Time?. <em>Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes<\/em>, 73(2-3), pp. 236-271.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Groupthink is a type of thinking when members of a group accept the group consensus uncritically. It can lead to disastrous conclusions because moral and logical thinking is suspended. Group members often take the group\u2019s competence and unity for granted, thereby failing to use their own individual thought. Alternatively, they might not want to avoid [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sociology"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Chris Drew (PhD)","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"authorship-box-avatar":false,"authorship-box-related":false,"authorship-post-flat":false,"authorship-post-cards":false,"authorship-post-thumbs":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Chris Drew (PhD)","author_link":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/author\/chris-drew-phd\/"},"uagb_comment_info":13,"uagb_excerpt":"Groupthink is a type of thinking when members of a group accept the group consensus uncritically. It can lead to disastrous conclusions because moral and logical thinking is suspended. Group members often take the group\u2019s competence and unity for granted, thereby failing to use their own individual thought. Alternatively, they might not want to avoid&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16514"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25200,"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16514\/revisions\/25200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpfulprofessor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}