Groupthink is a theory dedicated to understanding the decision-making process in small groups. Janis believes that groups frequently make decisions with profound consequences, and although he focused his efforts on foreign policy groups, the application of Groupthink terminology resonates in many other decision-making groups. Among the criteria for evaluating a theory, four are especially relevant for discussion: heurism, scope, testability, and test of time.

Heurism

The theory of Groupthink is a heuristic undertaking; the theory and many of its elements have been employed in a number of studies and have enjoyed the attention of many communication and social psychology scholars (e.g., Cline, 1990; Courtright, 1978; Pavitt & Johnson, 2002; Turner & Pratkanis, 1998; Yetiv, 2003). The theory has generated a number of assumptions about group behavior, and Groupthink remains an important part of the literature on group decision making (Aldag & Riggs Fuller, 1998).

Scope

Despite the fact that many groupthink principles can be applied to several types of groups, Janis was clear in his original conceptualization in applying Groupthink solely to decision-making groups in crisis periods; he does not readily apply his thinking to every group type. Therefore, the scope of the theory could be defined as narrow.

Testability

Group scholars have pointed to some validity problems with the theory, therefore calling into question its testability. For instance, Jeanne Longley and Dean Pruitt (1980) criticize the validity of the theory. They argue that half of the symptoms of groupthink are not associated with concurrence seeking-a key feature of the theory. They charge that “a theory should be a logical progression of ideas, not a grab-bag of phenomena that were correlated with each other in a sample of six cases” (p. 80). Further, they note that Janis incorporates self-esteem in discussions of groupthink, but failed to mention it in his theory. In later writings, however, Janis (1982) addresses self-esteem as an antecedent to groupthink.

Test of Time

The theory of Groupthink has withstood the test of time. Scholars continue to investigate many of its fundamental features, and the theory continues to be discussed in the popular media (newspapers and television). On the thirtieth anniversary of Groupthink, Schwartz and Wald (2003) called Janis a “pioneer in the study of social dynamics” (p. 4). Finally, given that government policy decisions will always exist, the likelihood of future instances of groupthink is rather high.

Groupthink may be more intuitively appealing than empirically driven. The theory, however, continues to receive attention in research as well as in the popular press. In fact, Janis’s thinking on groupthink has been quite influential in several fields of study, including communication, cognitive and social psychology, anthropology, and political science. Few would debate the failure of the foreign policy fiascoes outlined by Janis: massive violence and casualties, loss of confidence in governmental decisions, and policymaking gone wrong. For these reasons alone, Janis is credited with helping us identify and examine one type of group decision-making problem.