ABSTRACT
The case history provides not only a validation of the theory. Due to the centrality of the China issue for Jawaharlal Nehru, in both moral-ideological and functional terms, it highlights the wider region of the mind and world view of the man who shaped modern India’s stance in world politics, not only in his time but also for years to come. The case study indicates that, in this instance, the preferred pattern of confrontation between the decisionmaker Nehru and his environment determined his specific “perceptual reaction” patterns. The power of the biasing personal and societal factors is stronger than that of self-correcting processes, and that is true even for leaders such as Nehru, who are aware, and stress the importance, of rationality. The relatively easier variables to manipulate are group and organizational structure and behavior, as well as information-processing procedures.
