Watch for
Using "we have come this far" as the main reason to continue.
Decision & ChoiceBias #93
Escalation of Commitment
We throw good resources after bad.
The tendency to continue investing additional resources into a failing project despite clear evidence that stopping would be better.
Why it matters: Also called irrational escalation. Explains megaproject overruns and prolonged wars.
Try this
Ask what you would recommend if someone new took over with no prior investment.
Real-world example
A company pours millions more into a failing product because they have already invested so much.
Key researchers
Barry Staw
First described in 1976
Psychological mechanism
Self-justification and sunk cost entanglement. Admitting failure threatens self-image and social standing. Continuing invests in the hope that success will retrospectively justify all past expenditures.
Seminal research
Barry M. Staw (1976), "Knee-deep in the big muddy: A study of escalating commitment to a chosen course of action."
Related Biases
Below is a realistic scenario. Read it, then choose what you would do. The feedback will show whether a cognitive bias influenced your choice — not to judge, but to reveal the pattern in action.
Thought Experiment
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
STEP 1 → ReadSTEP 2 → ChooseSTEP 3 → Reveal
Debrief
Escalation of commitment feels like perseverance but is often just loss aversion in disguise. The discipline is to separate past investment from future decisions. If you were starting today with no history would you still invest?
Sources
Original ResearchStaw (1976) — Escalation of commitment
EducationalAPA Dictionary entry