Why Did They Do It

We don't really understand any group, yet alone the actions of a group that commits suicide. But if we assume that Heaven's Gate was a group like any other, then we can speculate about the factors that may have led it to make such a dreadful decision.

When people must make important decisions, they turn to groups. Groups can draw on more resources than a lone individual. Groups can also generate more ideas and possible solutions by discussing the problem. Groups can also pressure individual members to accept the solution, even if they have doubts. People generally feel that a group's decision will be superior to an individual's decisions.

Groups, however, don't always make good decisions. Juries sometimes render verdicts that run counter to the evidence presented. Community groups take radical stances on issues before thinking through all the ramifications. Military strategists concoct plans that seem, in retrospect, ill-conceived and short- sighted.

Groups can stumble, but groups that make disastrous decisions require special explanation. One such explanation is groupthink: a distorted style of thinking that renders group members incapable of making a rational decision (Forsyth, 1995, Our Social World, Brooks/Cole). Groupthink, which was coined by Irving Janis in his classic book Victims of Groupthink, is considered a disease that infects healthy groups, rendering them inefficient, unproductive, and irrational.

Did Heaven's Gate suffer from groupthink? Janis has identified a number of causes of groupthink, and many were likely operating in the Heaven's Gate group.

Cohesiveness. Groupthink only occurs in cohesive groups. Such groups have many advantages over groups that lack unity. People enjoy their membership much more in cohesive groups, they less likely to abandon the group, and they work harder in pursuit of the group's goals. But extreme cohesiveness can be dangerous. When cohesiveness intensifies, members become more likely to accept the goals, decisions, and norms of the group without reservation. Conformity pressures also rise as members become reluctant to say or do anything that goes against the grain of the group, and the number of internal disagreements--so necessary for good decision making--decreases.

Isolation. Groupthink groups work in secret. They isolate themselves from outsiders, and refuse to modify their beliefs to bring them into line with society's beliefs. They avoid leaks by maintaining strict confidentiality and working only with people who are members of their group.

Biased leadership. A biased leader who exerts too much authority over the group members can increase conformity pressures and railroad decisions. In groupthink groups the leader determines the agenda for each meeting, sets limits on discussion, and can even decide who will be heard.

Decisional stress. Groupthink becomes more likely when the group is stressed, particularly by time pressures. The Heaven's Gate group experienced such stress, as the arrival of the comment Hale-Bopp and the Christian holy days forced them to come to a decision regarding their assumed transportation. When groups are stressed they minimize their discomfort by quickly choosing a plan of action, with little argument or dissension. Then, through collective discussion, the group members can rationalize their choice by exaggerating the positive consequences, minimizing the possibility of negative outcomes, concentrating on minor details, and overlooking larger issues.

The group, then, was ripe for groupthink. Moreover, as details are reported by the media, we can continue to ascertain if the group displayed one or more of the following symptoms of groupthink:

Overestimation of the group. Groups that have fallen into the trap of groupthink are actually planning fiascoes and making all the wrong choices. Yet the members usually assume that everything is working perfectly. They are happy and confident.

Biased perceptions. During groupthink members respond to people who oppose their plan with suspicion. They often adopt ideas that are completely inconsistent with reality, and yet they rationalize their beliefs.

Conformity pressures. In groupthink situations, pressures to conform become overwhelming. Each individual member of the group experiences a personal reluctance to disagree. Through self-censorship, pressuring dissenters, and mindguarding, the group develops an atmosphere of unanimity. Every person may privately disagree with what is occurring in the group, yet publicly everyone expresses total agreement with the group's policies. The fact that the Heaven's Gate members dressed similarly and looked so identical that the first officers on the scene assumed that all of the members were men speaks to the magnitude of the pressures to seek uniformity.

Defective decision-making strategies. Groups usually make decisions by sharing information, weighing alternatives, discussing costs and benefits, and seeking new information. When a group experiences groupthink, it locks into a plan of action and does not waiver from it. It experiences tunnelvision, and no longer uses effective decision-making strategies. I have not seen any information about the decisional processes used by the group.

The bottomline of this analysis is that Heaven's Gate is a tragedy. Thirty nine people took their own lives, leaving behind family and friends. Yet, we should not rush to demean the group with simplistic explanations that call them "crazy." Studies of groupthink have traced such decisions as the invasion of the Bay of Pigs, the mission to rescue the hostages held in Tehran, the launching of the space shuttle Challenger, and the defense of Pearl Harbor back too much cohesion, isolation, biased leaders, and too much stress. Rather than dismiss the Heaven's Gate group as insane, we consider them to be a group that made a bad decision.

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