A laboratory investigation of groupthink

A recent addition to the collection of theory on group communication is the concept of “groupthink,” formulated by Irving Janis. The purpose of this study was to examine the groupthink phenomenon under controlled, laboratory conditions. Because the original formulation was based on historical case studies of foreign‐policy decisions, a laboratory analogue which recreated the important elements of the theory was constructed. The results of this study indicated that (1) the groupthink phenomenon is amenable to study in the laboratory, and (2) the theory as postulated by Janis is essentially correct. It was also suggested that even though Janis argues that several variables indicate the occurrence of groupthink, the results of this study indicated that the presence or absence of disagreement (conflict, hostility) among group members may be the best discriminator between groupthink and non‐groupthink groups.