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Irving L. Janis: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from Irving L. Janis, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• A tight-knit group can talk itself into a decision every member privately doubts

  Irving Janis coined 'groupthink' after studying disasters like the Bay of Pigs invasion, where Kennedy's advisors backed a plan several of them secretly thought was reckless. He fo…

  — Irving Janis, Victims of Groupthink

• Trying too hard to change someone's mind can push them the other way

  When a persuasive message feels too forceful, or comes from a source people distrust, it can shift attitudes in the opposite direction from the one intended. Psychologists Carl Hov…

  — Carl I. Hovland, Irving L. Janis, Harold H. Kelley, Communication and Persuasion: Psychological Studies of Opinion Change

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