Glossary / Lexicon

Groupthink refers to the result when group cohesion leads all members of the group to abandon realistic evaluation of the situation and follow the corporate group ideal.

Some criticisms of the theory are: Explanatory Power - Groupthink offers a concrete definition of what will happen when groups become cohesive.
Predictive Power -Groupthink offers a explanation that if a group becomes cohesive the group will make bad decisions.
Parsimony -Groupthink is a very simple theory that states a cohesiveness within a group will lead to poor decision making in the group.
Falsifiablity - Groupthink is a little short in this category. There were no original criteria for groupthink so it is hard to test. However, some researchers have attempted to develop a scale to test groupthink.
Internal Consistency - Groupthink is argued by many researchers. Some agree but new research suggests that groupthink should be re-developed because it is not matching the current research on effective decision-making and cohesiveness.
Heuristic Provocativeness - There are several new hypothesis that can be offered about what happens in cohesive groups. Researchers are working on new ideas as we speak.
Organizing Power - A major drawback on groupthink is there was never a specific set of criteria of what groupthink is so that it could be tested. There were only symptoms to be interrupted by the researcher looking a group's decision.

Other /More definition:
Groupthink refers to a kind of thinking in which maintaining group cohesiveness and solidarity is more important than considering the facts in a realistic manner. A group decision-making style characterized by a tendency to value group harmony more than effective decision making. A way of thinking that can occur in decision-making groups when pressure to agree leads to inadequate appraisal of options and poor decisions A state of mind in which a group is so concerned about its own cohesiveness that it ignores important information. A strong concurrence-seeking tendency that interferes with effective group decision making, identified by Irving Janis. the tendency of group members to think alike A compulsion by members of decision-making groups to maintain agreement, even at the cost of critical thinking. "The mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive in-group that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action." -Irving Janis (1971). A group decision-making style characterized by a tendency to value group harmony more than effective decision making. A way of thinking that can occur in decision-making groups when pressure to agree leads to inadequate appraisal of options and poor decisions A state of mind in which a group is so concerned about its own cohesiveness that it ignores important information. A strong concurrence-seeking tendency that interferes with effective group decision making, identified by Irving Janis. the tendency of group members to think alike