Irving Janis

Have you ever wondered why people in power with plenty of experience and resources can still make such poor decisions sometimes? While it’s understandable how one person’s judgment could become easily clouded by outside factors, it would seem that a group of political leaders should be able to control for such influences. Political psychology questions like these were what American psychologist Irving Janis dedicated his career to. As a result of his research in the field, Janis proposed the concept of groupthink, which he posited can negatively influence the decisions that groups of people may come to. Read on to learn more about Janis, his work, and this core element of it.

Irving Janis was an American psychologist who was born in Buffalo, New York in 1918. As a young adult, he studied psychology at the University of Chicago before going on to earn his PhD from Columbia University in New York. After joining the psychology department at Yale University, Irving Janis began working as a researcher, primarily studying psychological distress and personal decision-making. 

Groupthink and foreign policy decisions

Irving Janis’ research led him to study group decision-making—especially as it relates to political psychology—and eventually publish his groundbreaking book, Victims of Groupthink: A Psychological Study of Foreign-Policy Decisions and Fiascoes (Houghton Mifflin, 1972). In his book, Janis explains how groupthink makes it hard for individuals to question a group’s decisions. Irving Janis then makes the case that groups previously in charge of the United States’ foreign policy were influenced by such dynamics. Janis wrote several other books on groupthink and the decision-making process, including A Practical Guide to Making Decisions (Free Press, 1980) and Stress, Attitudes, and Decisions: Selected Papers (Praeger, 1982). 

Janis' later career and death

Irving Janis received the Socio-Psychological Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1967, and the APA’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award in 1981. He retired from Yale University in 1985, and in 1986 he was made Adjunct Professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of California. His involvement in groupthink research continued until his death. While working as an adjunct professor, Janis wrote his last book, Crucial Decisions: Leadership in Policy-making and Crisis Management (Free Press, 1989). Irving Janis died of lung cancer on November 15, 1990. Today, Janis is best remembered for this groupthink theory.

What is political psychology?

Political psychology is a discipline that studies politics, politicians, and psychological principles related to both. Researchers in this field want to understand why political leaders behave the way they do, how they interact with each other, and what the outcomes of those interactions are for the populations they represent. It was within the realm of political and social psychology that Irving Janis developed his concept of groupthink.

Irving Janis and the groupthink concept

As a result, group members may fail to adequately consider all possible options, and any one person’s ability to dissent or push back against the status quo may seem limited or impossible. Groupthink discourages highly creative choices and solutions and, in Janis's estimation, tends to result in disastrous outcomes.

How groupthink influences crucial decisions

Groupthink can occur in any type of group, from individuals gathered together for a class project to high-level political leaders gathered to address a serious issue. According to Irving Janis, symptoms of this phenomenon that suggest it may be likely to occur include:

• Rationalization, which can happen when the group begins to settle on an answer
• Morality, when the group believes their cause is right and are willing to do whatever it takes to advance it
• Stereotypes, meaning that they assume that anyone in the outgroup is inferior
• Pressure, which the group may feel once they’ve developed a perspective on the issue 
• Self-censorship, causing anyone who may have doubts about the group consensus to keep those doubts to themselves
• Unanimity, or the assumption that the decision the majority comes to is unanimous

How to avoid groupthink

In addition to identifying the theory of groupthink and the situations in which it’s likely to occur, Janis also suggested measures that group leaders and participants can use to try and prevent it from happening in his book Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes. These include:

• Leaders taking an impartial stance on the issue or new policy to alleviate the pressure to conform
• Experts on the topic being invited to express their perspectives one at a time so the group can consider all the relevant information and perspectives
• Someone in the group playing devil’s advocate to help evaluate different ideas from various perspectives
• Splitting the groups into smaller sub-groups to discuss, and then reconvening
• Making a specific effort to consider how those affected by the decision will respond—especially if they are rival nations, in the case of major political choices

How groupthink may affect your life

How therapy can help