Escalation of commitment is a human behavior pattern in which an individual or group facing increasingly negative outcomes from a decision, action, or investment nevertheless continue the behavior instead of altering course. The actor maintains behaviors that are irrational, but align with previous decisions and actions.
— wiki
‘This must be worthwhile. Why? Because I’ve spent time on it!’ And therefore it must be worth me kicking in twenty dollars because look at the time I’ve spent on it. And now that I’ve kicked in twenty dollars, it must be valuable because only an idiot would kick in twenty dollars if it wasn’t.” Schell’s description of the quirky process of Mafia Wars rationalization helps demonstrate the strange logic of how we change our preferences.
— 📖 Hooked﹕ How to Build Habit-Forming Products
- related to sunk cost fallacy