De-escalation of commitment in oil exploration: When sunk costs and negative feedback coincide.

1990 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 721-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Garland ◽  
Craig A. Sandefur ◽  
Anne C. Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Negative Feedback ◽  
Sunk Costs ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Oil Exploration

scholarly journals When Action-Inaction Framing Leads to Higher Escalation of Commitment: A New Inaction-Effect Perspective on the Sunk-Cost Fallacy

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 537-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilad Feldman ◽  
Kin Fai Ellick Wong
Keyword(s):  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Negative Feedback ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Sunk Costs ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Sunk Cost ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
The Impact

Escalation of commitment to a failing course of action occurs in the presence of (a) sunk costs, (b) negative feedback that things are deviating from expectations, and (c) a decision between escalation and de-escalation. Most of the literature to date has focused on sunk costs, yet we offer a new perspective on the classic escalation-of-commitment phenomenon by focusing on the impact of negative feedback. On the basis of the inaction-effect bias, we theorized that negative feedback results in the tendency to take action, regardless of what that action may be. In four experiments, we demonstrated that people facing escalation-decision situations were indeed action oriented and that framing escalation as action and de-escalation as inaction resulted in a stronger tendency to escalate than framing de-escalation as action and escalation as inaction (mini-meta-analysis effect d = 0.37, 95% confidence interval = [0.21, 0.53]).

Vicarious entrapment: Your sunk costs, my escalation of commitment

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian C. Gunia ◽  
Niro Sivanathan ◽  
Adam Galinsky
Keyword(s):  
Sunk Costs ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment

Losing Face and Sinking Costs

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Renshon
Keyword(s):  
Social Dominance ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Investment Decision ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Sunk Costs ◽  
Behavioral Measure ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Course Of Action

This chapter explores the behavioral microfoundations of status dissatisfaction theory by conducting two simultaneously fielded experiments in which status concerns were randomly assigned prior to an “escalation of commitment” task. The first study replicates and extends a sunk costs experiment that asks subjects to make a hypothetical investment decision, while the second introduces the “Island Game” to provide a behavioral measure of escalation of commitment. Several regression models are estimated to determine how leadership affects the tendency to escalate in the primary decision task. The chapter also considers additional mechanisms that link status concerns to war through individuals' willingness to escalate their commitment to a failing course of action, including power and social dominance orientation (SDO). The results show that subjects with stronger preferences for hierarchy—that is, high in SDO—are most affected by status concerns and correspondingly more likely to exhibit patterns of biased escalation.

Vicarious entrapment: Your sunk costs, my escalation of commitment

2009 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1238-1244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian C. Gunia ◽  
Niro Sivanathan ◽  
Adam D. Galinsky
Keyword(s):  
Sunk Costs ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment

scholarly journals Mindfulness and decision-making: Sunk-costs or escalation of commitment?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Schmitzer-Torbert
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sunk Costs ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Trait Mindfulness ◽  
Sunk Cost ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
Cognitive Benefits ◽  
Positive Health Outcomes ◽  
The Relationship

Mindfulness is related to a number of positive health outcomes, such as decreased stress, anxiety and improved physical functioning. Recent studies have also identified a range cognitive benefits of mindfulness, including recent studies demonstrating that higher trait mindfulness and brief mindfulness inductions are associated with improved decision-making, and specifically to resistance to the influence of sunk-costs, where higher mindfulness is associated with increased willingness to discontinue a costly, but disadvantageous, course of action. However, some previous studies examining mindfulness and the sunk-cost bias have methodological limitations which make it difficult to determine if mindfulness is specifically related to sensitivity to the sunk-cost bias, or rather than to a general willingness to continue an unprofitable course of action (independent of the level of prior investment). The present study extends previous work by replicating the finding that trait mindfulness is positively related to resistance to the effects of sunk-costs, and also demonstrates that mindfulness is related to reduced escalation of commitment, an individual’s willingness to continue their commitment to a unprofitable course of action through the further investment of resources or time. Overall, trait mindfulness was most consistently related to reduced escalation of commitment, whereas the relationship between trait mindfulness and resistance to the effects of sunk-costs were less consistently observed

Escalation of commitment as an antecedent to noncompliance with information security policy

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miranda Kajtazi ◽  
Hasan Cavusoglu ◽  
Izak Benbasat ◽  
Darek Haftor
Keyword(s):  
Information Security ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Sunk Costs ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Task Completion ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Value Conflicts ◽  
Information Security Policy ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThis study aims to identify antecedents to noncompliance behavior influenced by decision contexts where investments in time, effort and resources are devoted to a task – referred to as a task unlikely to be completed without violating the organization’s information security policy (ISP).Design/methodology/approachAn empirical test of the suggested relationships in the proposed model was conducted through a field study using the survey method for data collection. Pre-tests, pre-study, main study and a follow-up study compose the frame of our methodology where more than 500 respondents are involved across different organizations.FindingsThe results confirm that the antecedents that explain the escalation of commitment behavior in terms of the effect of lost assets, such as time, effort and other resources, give us a new lens to understand noncompliance behavior; employees seem to escalate their commitments to the completion of their tasks at the expense of becoming noncompliant with ISP.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the key areas that requires further attention from this study is to better understand the role of risk perceptions on employee behavior when dealing with value conflicts. Depending on how risk-averse or risk seeking an employee is, the model showed no significant support in either case to influence their noncompliance behavior. The authors therefore argue that employees' noncompliance may be influenced by more powerful beliefs, such as self-justification and sunk costs.Practical implicationsThe results show that when employees are caught in tasks undergoing difficulties, they are more likely to increase noncompliance behavior. By understanding better how project obstacles result in such tasks, security managers can define new mechanisms to counter employees’ shift from compliance to noncompliance.Social implicationsApart from encouraging compliance with enforcement mechanisms (using direct behavioral controls like sanctions or rewards), indirect behavior controls may also encourage compliance. The authors suggest that the ISPs should state that the organization would take positive actions toward task completion and help their employees to resolve their problems quickly.Originality/valueThis study is the first to tackle escalation of commitment theories and use antecedents that explain the effect of lost assets, such as time, effort and other resources can also explain noncompliance with ISP in terms of the value conflicts, where employees would often choose to forego compliance at the expense of finishing their tasks.

scholarly journals Escalation of Commitment: Supporting Role from Accountants

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Agil Novriansa ◽  
Ahmad Subeki ◽  
Aryanto Aryanto
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Investment Decision ◽  
Investment Project ◽  
Capital Budgeting ◽  
Sunk Costs ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Sunk Cost ◽  
Investment Decision Making

Previous research has mostly examined the phenomenon of escalation of commitment in the context of decision making by managers in an investment project. However, in the capital budgeting process, before making investment decisions managers tend to consider information produced by accountants. This study examines the phenomenon of escalation of commitment using the perspective of supporting role of accountants as the party that provides information for investment decision making by managers, especially in the presence of sunk costs. This study uses a laboratory experimental method. The sample in this study are 156 undergraduate students majoring in Accounting who had passed Financial Accounting and Management Accounting courses. Based on the results of the independent sample t-test, it shows that accountants who experienced sunk cost conditions tend to provide reports that directed managers towards escalation of commitment behavior compared to accountants who do not experience sunk cost conditions. The presence of sunk cost makes accountants have better mind frame to get the possibility of profit compared with a definite loss so that the decisions they make tend to provide reports that lead to the escalation of commitment behavior.

Vicarious Entrapment: Your Sunk Costs, My Escalation of Commitment

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Gunia ◽  
Adam D. Galinsky ◽  
Niro Sivanathan
Keyword(s):  
Sunk Costs ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment

Choice, Accountability, and Effortful Processing in Escalation Situations

2008 ◽  
Vol 216 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Georg Wolff ◽  
Klaus Moser
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Negative Feedback ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Tunnel Vision ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Late Stages ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Effortful Processing

Many studies on escalation of commitment observe only a single decision following negative feedback, although theoretical approaches to escalation behavior depict escalation as a progression over time. The present paper builds on Brockner and Rubin’s (1985 ) “tunnel vision” account that suggests a distinction between early and late stages of the escalation process. We used a dynamic paradigm, observing repeated decisions following negative feedback and manipulated choice and accountability in order to examine effects of justification on the progression of escalation behavior. Furthermore, reading times are used as a measure of effortful processing to investigate the mediating cognitive processes that lead to escalation behavior. Results show that the combination of choice with accountability leads to escalation behavior at later stages of the escalation process and that effortful processing mediates this interaction of choice, accountability, and escalation behavior.

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