POS 4206 Political Psychology
Dr. Terri Susan Fine
Groupthink Case Study
Overview
In DH Chapter 6, Houghton focuses on the political psychology of group decision-making. He opens the chapter discussing the public’s impressions of chief executives making decisions alone. “…we typically imagine a single individual…sitting at a desk and reviewing various options…After suitable deliberation, the leader then selects the option that seems most likely to meet whatever political and policy objective has been set.”
One of the best known images of the Vietnam Conflict (one of the case studies discussed in Chapter 6) is of President Lyndon Johnson sitting alone listening to a tape sent by Captain Charles Robb (Johnson’s son-in-law) from Vietnam on July 31, 1968 (Robb would later become Governor, and then U.S. Senator, from Virginia). The imagery suggests that the weight of the Vietnam Conflict rested on Johnson’s shoulders alone and was his sole responsibility for solving.
Yet Chapter 6 then moves to discuss the nature of group decision making, and the various characteristics associated with it. One expert on group decision making, Irving Janis, focused his attention on “groupthink”, a phenomenon that occurs when systematic errors may emerge when groups make collective decisions. Janis argues that, not only can individual decision making be problematic, so too can group decision making. In group decision making, individuals in the group take on roles that impact decision outcomes. According to Janis, there are 15 elements (or “antecedent conditions”) and symptoms that lead to “groupthink” (see p. 80).
The two case studies outlined in DH 6 are not the only instances of groupthink. Other tragic results of groupthink occurred in Jonestown, Guyana on November 18, 1978 when approximately 900 individuals died from a “revolutionary suicide” when they willingly drank cyanide mixed into a drink.
In this module you will:
Review informational material such as news items, investigation reports and primary source documents, and complete two matrices focusing the mass murder/ massacre/ suicides in Jonestown, Guyana.
Please do the following:
Read DH Chapter 6
Locate and review the Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple (http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=35361).
Then do this:
Complete the two matrices below, which will be submitted as a single document. The “Antecedent Condition” matrix should appear above the “Symptoms” matrix.
| Janis’ “Antecedent Condition” | Was the Antecedent Condition Present or Absent? | Describe the evidence of the presence or absence in complete sentences. Note: Be specific as to the location of the evidence, such as a page number or URL of a specific web page. |
| High Group Cohesiveness | ||
| Insulation of the Group from Outside Advice | ||
| Aggressive and Opinionated Leadership | ||
| Lack of Norms Requiring Methodical Procedures | ||
| Homogeneity of Members’ Backgrounds and Ideology | ||
| High Levels of Stress | ||
| Temporary Low Self-Esteem |
| Janis’ Symptoms | Was the Symptom Present or Absent? | Describe the evidence of the presence or absence in complete sentences. Note: Be specific as to the location of the evidence, such as a page number or URL of a specific web page. |
| Illusion of Invulnerability | ||
| Collective Rationalization | ||
| Belief in the Inherent Morality of the Group | ||
| Stereotyped Views of Outgroups | ||
| Direct Pressure Exerted on Dissenters | ||
| Self-Censorship | ||
| Illusion of Unanimity | ||
| Self-Appointed “Mindguards” |
Grading and Evaluation:
Your matrices will be graded on content, grammar, punctuation, usage and sentence structure. Be sure to include references to resource materials in your matrices. While there is no minimum or maximum word count on this module, it is critical that the matrices be complete. If a proper, detailed, response can be completed in one sentence, while another may take three sentences, then that approach should be followed.
Scoring Rubric:
As you review the rubric below, be mindful that the module is not eligible for credit if it:
- Is off task or focuses on one or more unassigned topics
- Includes unassigned material
- Is submitted in a word processing program other than MS Word
- Is cut and pasted into the assignment or message window
- Is submitted in more than one document
- Includes 30% or more direct quotes from assigned materials. Give yourself time to paraphrase or put the material in your own words.
| Assignment Component | Description | Points Awarded |
| Assigned Internet material incorporated into the “antecedent condition” matrix in a meaningful way. References to, and incorporation of, assigned Internet material only, are acceptable. | Strong incorporation | 75 |
| Moderate incorporation | 30 | |
| Weak/no incorporation | 0 | |
| Assigned Internet material incorporated into the “symptom” matrix in a meaningful way. References to, and incorporation of, assigned Internet material only, are acceptable. | Strong incorporation | 75 |
| Moderate incorporation | 30 | |
| Weak incorporation | 0
| |
| Antecedent Condition Matrix | Complete and mostly correct matrix | 75
|
| Mostly complete and/or correct matrix | 35 | |
| Largely incomplete and/or largely incorrect matrix | 20 | |
| Matrix missing | 0 | |
| Symptom Condition Matrix
| Complete and mostly correct matrix | 75
|
| Mostly complete and/or correct matrix | 35 | |
| Largely incomplete and/or largely incorrect matrix | 20 | |
| Matrix missing | 0 | |
| Professional presentation/spelling errors (Includes misspelling the same word or name multiple times) | Fewer than five spelling/grammatical errors | 50 |
| Between 5-10 spelling/grammatical errors | 30 | |
| More than 10 spelling/grammatical errors | 0 |
Submissions: Click on “Groupthink Case Study” and upload your module.