Karen_A._Mingst,_Ivan_M._Arregu_n-Toft]_Essentia

196 CHAPTER Six ■ The IndIvIdual

PsychologIcal MechanIsMs used

To Pro cess InforMaTIon

Technique explanaTion example

c ognitive

consistency

Tendency to accept

information that is

compatible with what has

previously been accepted,

often ignoring inconsistent

information. Desire to be

consistent in attitude.

Just prior to the Japa nese

attack on Pearl Harbor,

military spotters saw

unmarked planes

approaching Hawaii. Not

believing the evidence, they

discounted the sightings.

evoked set

Details in a pres ent

situation that are similar

to information gleaned

from past situations. The

tendency to look for an

evoked set leads one to

conclusions that are similar

to those of the past.

During the Vietnam War,

U.S. decision makers saw the

Korean War as a pre ce dent,

although there were critical

differences.

Mirror Image

Seeing in one’s opponent the

opposite of characteristics

seen in oneself. Opponent

is viewed as hostile and

uncompromising, whereas

one views oneself as friendly

and compromising.

During the Cold War, U.S.

elites and public viewed the

Soviet Union in terms of their

own mirror image: the United

States was friendly, the

Soviet Union hostile.

groupthink

Thought pro cess whereby

small groups form consensus

and resist criticism of

that core position, often

disregarding contradictory

information.

During the U.S. planning for

the Bay of Pigs operation

against Cuba in 1961,

opponents were ostracized

from the planning group.

satisficing

Tendency for groups to

search for a “good enough”

solution, rather than an

optimal one.

Decision of NATO to bomb

Kosovo in 1999 in an attempt

to stop the ethnic cleansing

against the Albanian

Kosovars, rather than

sending in ground troops.

Table 6.1