How Escalation of Commitment Shapes Our Decisions and How to Stop It

The Biased Brain Podcast with Owen Hawthorne

Explore the intriguing world of cognitive biases and human cognition in this engaging podcast. Discover how bias in decision making shapes our perceptions and influences our choices. Join us as we delve into the science behind critical thinking and biases, providing practical insights to enhance your understanding and control over your thought processes. Whether you're a psychology student or curious observer, this podcast offers valuable tools to help you unveil the hidden biases in your mind.

Why We Just Can’t Let Go: The Escalation of Commitment Explained

Have you ever thrown good money after bad, stuck with a terrible plan way longer than you should, or stayed in a hopeless situation just because you already invested so much time, effort, or resources? If so, you’re not alone—and what you experienced is something called escalation of commitment, a fascinating cognitive bias that impacts countless decisions every day.

Imagine you’re at an amusement park, and you decide to buy a ticket for a pricey roller coaster. Halfway through waiting in a long line, the ride breaks down. You’re tired, the weather’s turning—yet you keep waiting instead of walking away. Why? That’s escalation of commitment at work. We tend to stick with decisions—and keep investing—because we hate the idea of our previous efforts being wasted.

This kind of bias is surprisingly common, especially when it comes to our own choices. Human cognition is wired in ways that make admitting mistakes or cutting losses tough. It’s like a little voice in our head that says, “Well, I’ve already put in so much, I might as well see it through.” The tricky part? This voice often leads us to more losses or wasted time instead of better results.

What’s going on here? Let’s break it down with some examples:

• Bad Investments: People keep throwing money into failing stocks or businesses just because they’ve already invested a lot.
• Unhealthy Relationships: Folks stay in relationships that aren’t working, thinking their years together shouldn’t be wasted.
• Poor Work Decisions: Managers keep funding projects that are clearly not yielding results, afraid to admit it was a bad call.

All of these behaviors stem from the same place—a biased brain hooked on the idea that past investments justify staying the course, even when logic screams otherwise.

Understanding cognitive biases like escalation of commitment is a vital step in improving critical thinking and biases awareness. When you catch yourself rationalizing a decision just because of prior commitment, it’s an alarm bell. What you really need is to weigh the future benefits against the future costs, ignoring what you’ve already spent. In other words, learn to treat sunk costs as sunk—gone and unrecoverable.

This bias ties closely to others, like confirmation bias, where people only seek information that supports their choice, or loss aversion, where the fear of loss clouds judgment.

So how do we protect ourselves from escalation of commitment? Here are some practical tips:

1. Pause and Reflect: Before continuing to invest in a decision, ask yourself if you’d still do it knowing what you know now.
2. Seek Outside Perspectives: Sometimes a fresh set of eyes helps spot bias in decision making.
3. Set Clear Criteria: Before starting a project or commitment, define success and failure points to avoid emotional clinging.
4. Embrace Flexibility: Realize changing course isn’t failure; it’s smart adjustment.

This whole discussion connects back to a larger conversation about human cognition and why we often get in our own way. There’s an excellent resource I want to share—The Biased Brain by Bo Bennett, PhD. It dives into cognitive biases, helping anyone interested unravel the quirks and shortcuts of the mind. If you find this topic intriguing, exploring the book and unraveling the secrets of your mind is well worth your time.

Biases like escalation of commitment remind us that even the sharpest minds aren’t immune to irrational patterns. By learning about these tendencies, we not only get better at spotting them but also sharpen our critical thinking and biases management skills, which can save us a lot of trouble down the road.

Next time you feel stuck in a decision or tempted to “just keep going,” take a moment to recognize if your brain is playing tricks on you. We all need a little reminder that sometimes the smartest move is to let go.

Thanks for hanging out and talking through this with me—understanding cognitive biases isn’t just for psychologists or business folks; it’s for anyone who wants to make better decisions and live a less biased life.

Remember to check out The Biased Brain by Bo Bennett, PhD for a fascinating journey into why our minds sometimes trip us up. Explore the book and unravel the secrets of your mind today!

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