One of the theories that offers a great deal of predictive and explanatory power for applied social psychologists is Irving Janis’s groupthink theory. This theory explains how members of groups make stupid and sometimes reckless decisions that can have serious consequences. Groups of people can make worse decisions than the individual members of the group would make by themselves. And once a faulty decision has been made, the first reaction of the group is often to “circle the wagons” and defend against “whistleblowers,” rather than to take responsibility for the decision and taking action to correct the error. Historical instances in which groupthink played a role include the 1961 U.S. invasion of the Bay of Pigs, Cuba, the U.S. war in Vietnam (1964-1975), and the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger just after take-off in 1986.
Please view the video, “A Major Malfunction . . .”: The Story Behind the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster. Part 3: Disaster, Deception, and Disclosure” (60 min.)
Using what you learned from the textbook chapter and the video, write an essay that answers the following questions. You may wish to do additional research on “groupthink” in PsychInfo and on “the Challenger disaster” on the web.
• What are the basic conditions under which groupthink can occur?
• In the case of the Challenger disaster, why was the decision made to launch even though some of the contractors in the program (Rockwell International, Morton Thiokol) recommended against launching?
• What was the concealed purpose of the Presidential Commission (the “Rogers Commission”) that was appointed to investigate the Challenger accident, and how does that purpose illustrate groupthink theory?
• What is the lesson of the Challenger incident for decision-makers in complex organizations?
Please save your essay on your local drive and then upload it to the Lesson 2 Focus Activity Drop Box.