Irving Janis

Irving Lester Janis ( born May 26, 1918 in Buffalo, New York, † November 15, 1990 in Santa Rosa, California ) was an American social psychologist and research and a university professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Life

Janis research at the universities of Yale and Berkeley. He explored the group dynamics and developed a decision process theory, which he called groupthink ( groupthink ). In 1972 he published his book on the groupthink, in which he stated that in addition to individual intelligence tilt adjustment leads to a verdict.

An example of groupthink is not expected by many experts emergence of the global economic crisis ( Lehman crisis ) in 2008, as they left on their colleagues in their analysis and the expertise of colleagues Weighted its own findings or were not looking for possible alternative scenarios. With groupthink to render assistance is also explained if many people do not support an injured person, knowing that the others present would have to intervene.

Awards

Janis received the following awards:

• Socio- Psychological Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1967
• Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association, 1981
• Scientist Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, 1991

Works (selection)

• Victims of Groupthink: A Psychological Study of Foreign - Policy Decisions and Fiascoes, Houghton Mifflin, Boston 1972, ISBN 0-395-14044-7
• Stress, attitudes, and Decisions: selected papers, Praeger, New York, 1982, ISBN 0-03-059036-1