about groupthink

Groupthink

Groupthink is a social condition that happens in a group of individuals which results in a dysfunctional or unreasonable judgment or consequence in order to be in conformity or unity with the group. To find a consensus, the members of the party often strive as far as possible to mitigate disagreement without objective assessment. It does not allow for the acceptance of alternative points of view so there is an alienation built to suppress all outside thought. Individuality, individuality, imagination, and freedom have all been damaged.

Bad Choices

The idea of groupthink will also explain why people make bad choices. In the precise sense, the groups are expected to make decisions that are better for individuals on complex issues as more perspectives are brought to light through the membership witnessed. Also, groups, are supposed to be agents for correcting the error and social support, more so on new ideas. In case the new ideas are not considered, the errors may not be corrected as and when they arise. On the other hand, if the social support cannot be geared to support wisdom, an element that necessary for better decision making, the participants will ultimately make worse decisions as they will be inverted.

Mechanism of Groupthink

The mechanism of groupthink is in most cases limited to few two causes of action, without taking into consideration the other alternatives. The objectives and values that need fulfillment are hardly considered entirely. There is no reexamination of the course of action selected as long as the majority of the members have taken that given standpoint. The risks that are not obvious are hardly considered. The drawbacks not considered initially are hardly considered. Negligence of the courses of action initially deemed to be unsatisfactory takes place; little time is taken to take note of them. Little or no attempts are made to obtain information from the experts who can give reliable estimates on the losses and gains that could accrue from an alternative course of action. Selective bias is evident in the manner in which the group members react to a given facts ventilated by an expert. Lastly, the members hardly evaluate the sabotage by opponents, the bureaucratic inertia that may be created and the possibility of failure.

Case of Groupthink - Bay of Pigs Invasion

There are some cases of groupthink. The Bay of Pigs invasion that happens in April 1961 became the first case for the formulation of the group thinks by Janis. Eisenhower administration hatched the plan to invade, and once the Kennedy administration came to power, it accepted the Central Intelligence Agency plan without a critical consideration. The Kennedy team ignored suggestions from Senator William J Fulbright Arthur M Schlesinger junior that were contrary to the plan and still maintained their firm proposition on the molarity of their plan. Eventually, Schlesinger did self-censorship by minimizing the doubts that he had. The Kennedy team equally stereotyped Fidel Castro and other Cubans when they failed to question the central intelligence agency on the assumptions that were false which included the ineffectiveness of the forces from Cuba.

Impact on Political and Military Decisions

In conclusion, the concept of groupthink has significantly affected the political and military decisions no wonder the theory was generated on a political and military basis. It results in very significant wastages of both material resources and human being through the poor decisions made by experienced military and political commanders. The shift of the United States administration’s view on Saddam Hussein was based on groupthink, it at last lead to the invasion of Iraq in the year 2003.Last and most recent is the United States presidential election in the year 2016. It was well known before the election that Clinton would win in a landslide. The disconnect between the pre-election estimates and the election results, from the media outlets and pollsters, may have largely depended on the political correctness and polling error, in that most of the people that had support for Trump may have misled the interviewers.

References

Breger, M. L. (2010). Making Waves or Keeping the Calm? Analyzing the Institutional Culture of Family Courts through the Lens of Social Psychology Groupthink Theory. Retrieved on 26 May 2017 from

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1713757

Cherry, K. (2016, June 14). What Is Groupthink? Retrieved May 26, 2017, from

https://www.verywell.com/what-is-groupthink-2795213

Rose, J. D. (2011). Diverse perspectives on the groupthink theory–a literary review. Emerging Leadership Journeys, 4(1), 37-57 Retrieved on 26 May 2017 from

http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/elj/vol4iss1/Rose_V4I1_pp37-57.pdf