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Social Psychology I > Group Influence > Group Decisions

Groupthink: When good people make bad decisions

The space shuttle Challenger was launched on January 20, 1986 from Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral. The mission was considered "routine" aside from the presence of a civilian on the shuttle crew, schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Seventy-three seconds after liftoff, a seal known as an "O-ring" failed on the shuttle's booster rocket and the Challenger disintegrated in mid-air. All seven crew members were killed as the remnants of the craft fell into the ocean . Although engineers had known of potential problems with the O-rings for almost two years, these issues were not communicated well in meetings with the group of NASA administrators who were responsible for making decisions about the shuttle launch. It has been suggested that the Challenger disaster was as much the fault of poor group decision making as it was a mechanical failure <REF>(Romzek & Dubnick, 1987).

We've all seen it before: A group of knowledgeable, intelligent people sit down to make plans, but end up recommending some ridiculous or inept course of action. We scratch our heads and wonder how people with great expertise and resources could have botched a decision this badly. Irving Janis, a social psychologist who analyzes political and military decision making, has argued that even groups of very capable people can make dreadful decisions if they fall prey to the symptoms of groupthink .

Janis believes that groupthink occurs when the members of a group become excessively concerned with reaching consensus and keeping conflicts to a minimum. When people become obsessed with preserving harmony in the group, they may not make realistic or appropriate decisions. This is most likely to occur when the group is highly cohesive and can exert a great deal of normative influence; when the group has a strong, popular leader; and when the group has been very successful in the past <REF>(Janis, 1982; 1989). The symptoms of groupthink can include:

The Illusion of Invulnerability - Group members become overconfident and believe that their past success will continue. This unrealistic optimism can cause groups to take extreme, unjustifiable risks.
Self-Censorship - People in the group are hesitant to express criticism of the group decision, and so keep silent about any misgivings they may have concerning that decision.
Mind-Guards - Individuals who take it upon themselves to protect the other group members (especially the leader) from disturbing or contradictory information. Sometimes these mind-guards will approach group members in private and personally discourage them from raising questions or criticisms in group discussions.
The Illusion of Unanimity - Because self-censorship and mind-guarding keeps critics from voicing any doubts, people assume that there is unanimous agreement among the rest of the group members. This increases conformity pressures still further and reduces real discussion in the group.

Many dubious business, military, and political decisions have been cited as possible instances of groupthink.

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