Groupthink Theory: Bay Of Pigs Invasion

Groupthink has been thought to be the reason for some of the famous decision-making fiascoes, such as the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Watergate cover-up, and the Challenger disaster. Even today, groupthink theory continues to be seen as a "defective process" (Aldag & Fuller, 1993). In general, the groupthink theory states that a group decision making of individuals in a cohesive group usually enters a state where the member's determination to unite at a single solution overrides their motivation to thoroughly account for the alternative choices (Moorhead, Ference & Neck, 1991). Moreover, the groupthink is characterized by a deterioration of cognitive efficiency, moral judgment and reality testing, which results from the pressures from the cohesiveness of the group (Dattner, 2011). The term "groupthink" was chosen by Irving Janis, who conceptualized the groupthink theory, due to its Orwelian connotation (Aldag & Fuller, 1993). Irving Janis began researching on the concept of groupthink be exploring on the events that lead to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion (Dattner, 2011).

However, Aldag and Fuller (1993) argues that the groupthink theory has similar problems as those model theories of Maslow and Piaget. The problems with the groupthink theory was summarized by Aldag and Fuller (1994) into four main points. First, the groupthink model consists of a small and restricted sample. Moreover, the groupthink theory assumes a deterministic and precise sequence of stages. Furthermore, the groupthink model has only substantial intuitive appeal. Finally, the groupthink theory was received with inconsistent empirical