Groupthink: Politics And Executive Decision-Making

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Groupthink was developed in 1972 by Irving Janis and is a broad theory that insists everyone in a group is of one mind and cooperates together for the same decision. There are many different conditions when groupthink is being applied. Some of the main ones are cohesiveness, lack of impartial leadership, and lack of decision-making procedure (West & Turner, 2010, p. 245-246). The theory is applied during group thinking situations, which can be seen most notably in politics and other executive decision-making. Before understanding how these conditions are applicable, one must first fully understand the theory of groupthink by itself. From there it can be applied to politics and executive decision-making. The groupthink theory is a way of deliberating that group members use when their desire for unanimity overrides their motivation to assess all available plans of action. The theory is highly influential in explaining how groups make decisions. Janis argues that when groups are “in” groupthink, they immediately engage in a mentality to “preserve group harmony” (Turner, 2010, p. 240-241). This is also referred to as the cohesiveness in the …show more content…

A problem that may occur with appointing a jury duty leader is that the leader might feel powerful and put his/her opinions above the other members or even try to persuade them (Mitchell & Eckstein, 2009, p. 165). Mitchell and Eckstein (2009) state, “groups with promotional leaders produced more symptoms of groupthink, discussed fewer facts, and reached a decision more quickly than groups with non-promotional leadership” (p. 165). The Kent State board can be viewed as a lack of impartial leadership by not listening to the student’s desires to move the construction site of the new gymnasium. The board put their own opinions in front of the students, which caused the students to

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