Group Think

What is groupthink?   According to the hypothesis of Psychology scholar Irving Janis, groupthink is a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ striving for unanimity overrides their motivation to realistically appraises alternative courses of action (Janis).
Groups tend to be successful due to the varied ideas of group members, as a group members tend to be focused while working together.   Groups can be advantageous in multiple situations.   They are valuable to individuals because they are able to learn new skills, get feedback from others, and recognize their own strengths and weaknesses (Janis).   Also groups accomplish tasks that individuals cannot do on their own.   Some examples of groupthink that have been studied   is the United States failures to anticipate the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the escalation of Vietnam war, and the ill-fated hostage rescue in Iran.  Current examples of groupthink can be found in the decisions of the Bush administration and Congress to pursue an invasion of Iraq based on a policy of preventive use of military force against terrorists and rogue nations.  The decision to rush to war in Iraq before a broad-based coalition of allies could be built has placed the United States in an unenviable military situation in Iraq that is costly in terms of military deaths and casualties, diplomatic standing in the world, and economically (Thompson 4).   Groupthink can be applied to multiple situations, especially to the world of politics
As illustrated in the text, Case Histories in International Politics; the Cuban Missile Crisis was the resulted from the lack of a decision-making process.   Although the crisis ended peacefully after brutal negation and flawed intelligence, it could have been handled differently.   Perhaps if the method of groupthink had not been avoided the end results of the crisis would have been considered controlled rather than a case...