Everyone has experienced being in a situation where they wanted to speak up about an issue but was afraid if they did a giant target would be painted on their back. When an individual is among a group of like-minded people they may find it difficult to go against the grain and communicate a viewpoint that they believe is not right. The idea of drawing attention to themselves and standing out as the one that is different from the rest can be a very intimidating. It is not difficult to think of examples of people who have been ridiculed or even killed for standing up for what they believe issue because history is filled with them. Even when the individual has a great amount of information, knowledge and skills about an issue they can still be pressured to follow the majority to their own demise. Some people would rather be wrong with a lot of people than to be right all alone. This paper will reflect my understanding of Groupthink and describe why and how people willfully follow a group decision or plan regardless of the possible bad consequences.
In 1972, Irving Janis created the term “Groupthink” (Shore 2010) because he was interested in figuring out how groups of highly intelligent and skilled individuals could allow themselves to follow along with ideas and decisions they knew were not right or safe. Through his studies, Janis found multiple examples of intelligent women and men who were willing to give up on their beliefs to go along with the group. “These fiascos include the Bay of Pigs and the Pearl Harbor attack.” (Rose 2011)
During the Bay of Pigs incident, the United States government was embarrassed after a failed invasion on Cuba. They were caught trying to overthrow the Fidel Castro’s government and deceiving the United Nations. Cuba wasn’t attacking the United States so they did not have the support of United Nations. In spite of the US government’s steadfast belief that they were doing the right thing hundreds of people were killed and over...