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Promoting de-escalation of commitment: a regulatory-focus perspective on sunk costs
Daniel C Molden1, Chin Ming Hui
1Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-2710, USA. molden@northwestern.edu
Psychological Science
|November 26, 2010
Summary
Activating growth mindsets can reduce commitment to failing projects. This "promotion" focus helps people see new options and avoid sunk cost fallacy, unlike "prevention" mindsets.
Area of Science:
- Decision-making psychology
- Behavioral economics
Background:
- Escalation of commitment is common in failing endeavors.
- Prior explanations include loss aversion and justification biases.
- Current solutions are resource-intensive and have side effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test an alternative de-escalation method: activating promotion motivations.
- To reduce concerns with loss and increase perception of alternatives.
- To attenuate justification motives for continued investment.
Main Methods:
- Two studies used hypothetical financial decision-making scenarios.
- Participants' commitment to failing investments was measured.
- Promotion motivations were activated and compared to control and prevention conditions.
Main Results:
- Activating promotion motivations reduced recommitment to poor investments.
- This effect was observed compared to control and prevention conditions.
- Prevention motivations did not significantly alter commitment.
Conclusions:
- Broad motivations for growth (promotion) can effectively de-escalate commitment.
- This approach offers a low-resource alternative to traditional methods.
- Future research could explore real-world applications of promotion focus.
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