Groupthink

Groupthink is a pattern of decision making in which the desire for harmony and unanimity within a cohesive group overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives, leading members to suppress doubts and reach flawed conclusions. The concept was developed by the social psychologist Irving Janis, who analyzed episodes such as the Bay of Pigs invasion and the escalation of the Vietnam War, and who identified symptoms including illusions of invulnerability, collective rationalization, stereotyping of outsiders, self-censorship, and mindguards who shield the group from contrary information. William Whyte had earlier used the term to describe conformity in organizational life, and Solomon Asch's conformity experiments demonstrated the pressure to agree with a majority. Henri Tajfel and John Turner's social identity theory helps explain strong in-group loyalty, while Cass Sunstein has linked groupthink to group polarization and echo chambers. Diane Vaughan's study of the Challenger disaster highlighted the normalization of deviance in organizations. Critics argue that the model rests on selective case studies and that cohesion does not always produce poor decisions. Remedies include devil's advocates, outside experts, and open leadership. Groupthink remains central to research on organizations, politics, decision making, and group behavior.