Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Escalation: A Closer Look At Allocation Decisions, David A. Hofmann

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The escalation of commitment to a particular course of action has, in the past eleven years, become an increasingly popular area for research in the psychological aspects of decision making. The major question posed by this line of research is: "Does an individual become so committed to a particular course of action that he/she can no longer analyze the situation objectively and, consequently, makes irrational decisions to continue investing when such activity is no longer advisable?" Staw (1981) states that the escalation phenomenon can occur when an individual becomes overly committed to a chosen course of action. He adds that …