Three Antecedent Conditions of Groupthink As stated above, there are three antecedent conditions of groupthink: 1) Group Cohesiveness; 2) Structural faults; and 3) Provocative situational context. According to Janis, the most essential antecedent is group cohesiveness. This antecedent “implies a conventional understanding of the term as the ‘forces which are acting on members to stay in a group’” (McQueen 55). Group Cohesiveness entails an assembly of decision makers, known as the “core group”. This specific group consisted of President George W. Bush, VP Dick Cheney, NSC Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, VP Chief Aide Scooter Libby, Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas J. Feith, George Tenet, and Colin Powell. Powell and Tenet, being the skeptics, had different opinions about the invasion of Iraq; disagreeing with hawk members. Since there was not a willingness to coordinate between the whole core group, there is a lack of evidence of group cohesiveness.
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Janis speculates that “situational stress results from the collective perception that there is little hope for finding an alternative solution to that proposed by the leader or other prominent group members and temporarily low self-esteem caused by recent failures or the challenge of the decision-making task” (McQueen 57). As a political leader, there is large amounts of stress to any decision that is to be made, making the decision making process more difficult. While the Bush administration addressed the issue of going to war with Iraq, they were not racing against a clock. There was no time pressure to make a decision, and despite this there was a feeling of the crisis being drawn out. Sooner or later they would have to make a decision. Following these conditions are the symptoms of groupthink, resulting in a negative impact on the decision-making
Janis speculates that “situational stress results from the collective perception that there is little hope for finding an alternative solution to that proposed by the leader or other prominent group members and temporarily low self-esteem caused by recent failures or the challenge of the decision-making task” (McQueen 57). As a political leader, there is large amounts of stress to any decision that is to be made, making the decision making process more difficult. While the Bush administration addressed the issue of going to war with Iraq, they were not racing against a clock. There was no time pressure to make a decision, and despite this there was a feeling of the crisis being drawn out. Sooner or later they would have to make a decision. Following these conditions are the symptoms of groupthink, resulting in a negative impact on the decision-making