Escalation of Commitment
Updated 2026-08-01
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Escalation of commitment, studied by Barry Staw and later elaborated by Joel Brockner, describes the tendency to increase investment in a failing course of action. When prior commitment conflicts with negative feedback, people defend their self-image and the correctness of the earlier decision by adding resources. The critical condition is personal responsibility: escalation is strongest for the decision makers who own the original choice, which is why independent review is required.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Stop-loss trigger: set the exit line and the withdrawal criteria before the project starts. - Independent review: let someone who did not choose the project judge its prospects. - Sunk-cost split: judge the next dollar only on future returns, never on spend to date.
Anchor fast decisions
Admitting failure threatens the decision maker's competence and self-image, so continued investment becomes a way to prove the first decision was right. Each new round of spending raises the stake and makes withdrawal more embarrassing, producing a spiral in which sunk cost and self-justification reinforce each other.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%89%BF%E8%AB%BE%E7%BA%8C%E6%93%B4verified
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