Janis coined the term "Groupthink" to refer to "A mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in the cohesive in-group, when the members' striving for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alterative courses of action (Janis, 1972, p.8)

On January 28, 1986, the space-shuttle Challenger exploded.  ... The Presidential Commission that investigated the accident pointed to a flawed decision-making process as a primary contributory cause.

Three Primary Antecedent Conditions for the Development of Groupthink

1. A highly cohesive group
2. Leader preference for a certain decision
3. Insulation of the group from qualified outside opinions

Eight Symptoms of Groupthink

1. Invulnerability: an illusion of invulnerability that reassures [members] in the face of obvious dangers.
2. Rationalization: Victims of groupthink collectively construct rationalizations that discount warnings and other forms of negative feedback.
3. Morality:  Group members often believe, without question in the inherent morality of their position.  They tend to ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their decision.
4. Stereotyped Views of Others:  Victims of groupthink often have a stereotyped view of the opposition of anyone with a competing opinion.  They feel that the opposition is too stupid or too weak to understand or deal effectively with the problem.
5. Pressure on Dissent:  Group members often apply direct pressure to anyone who questions the validity of the arguments supporting a decision or position favored by the majority.
6. Self-Censorship:  Group members tend to censor themselves when they have opinions or ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.  Janis feels that this reflects each member's inclination to minimize to himself or herself the importance of his or her own doubts and counter-arguments.
7. Illusion of Unanimity:  Group members falling victim to groupthink share an illusion of unanimity concerning judgments made by members speaking in favor of the majority view. ... aided by the false assumption that any participant who remains silent is in agreement with the majority opinion.  The group leader and other members support each other by playing up points of convergence in their thinking at the expense of fully exploring points of divergence that might reveal unsettling problems.
8. Mindguarding: Certain group members assume the role of guarding the minds of others in the group.  They attempt to shield the group from adverse information that might destroy the majority view of the facts regarding the appropriateness of the decision

Decision-Making Defects (partial list)

• Few Alternatives: The group considers only a few alternatives, often only two.  No initial survey of all possible alternatives occurs.
• No Re-examination of Alternatives: The group fails to re-examine alternatives that may have been initially discarded based on early unfavorable information.
• Rejecting Expert Opinions:  Members make little or no attempt to seek outside experts opinions.
• Rejecting Negative Information: Members tend to focus n supportive information and ignore any data or information that might cast a negative light on their preferred alternative.
• No Contingency Plans:  Members spend little time discussing the possible consequences of the decision and, therefore, fail to develop contingency plans.

Discussion

The element of time in influencing the development of groupthink has not received adequate attention. ... Time is a critical variable that needs to be highlighted in a revised groupthink framework. ...  In certain situations when there is pressure to make a decision quickly, the elements may combine to foster the development of groupthink.

The second revision needs to be in the role of leadership of the decision-making group.  ... We propose the leadership style is a crucial variable that moderates the relationship between the group characteristics and the development of the symptoms.

We propose that the groupthink symptoms result from the group characteristics, as proposed by Janis, but only in the presence of the moderating variables of time and certain leadership styles.