Groupthink Activity

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Learn about the Kennedy Administration's group decision-making process during the Bay of Pigs invasion. At www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/frusX/index.html read "Foreign Relations of the United States: Cuba 1961-1962." Click on texts "106-120" and "121-135" to read about group interactions and decision making. Also try the JFK Library at www.jfklibrary.org/forum_cmc_021006.html and read "Cuban Missile Crisis: A Historical Perspective (speech)." Or visit www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/cuba-62.htm and read the article on "Cuban Missile Crisis." Then answer the questions below.

1. What symptoms of groupthink were present in the Bay of Pigs crisis?

2. What were some of the negative consequences of the group decision-making process in the Bay of Pigs crisis?

3. What approaches to decision-making were used by the Kennedy administration in the Cuban Missile Crisis to avoid groupthink?

4. How have you prevented groupthink in the groups of your life?

Groupthink | Group Communication

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