Factors affecting withdrawal from an escalating conflict: Quitting before it's too late

Why Software Projects Escalate: An Empirical Analysis and Test of Four Theoretical Models

“…Under approach avoidance theory, escalation is conceptualized as a behavior that results when driving forces that encourage persistence seem to outweigh restraining forces that encourage abandonment (Brockner and Rubin 1985). These competing forces create a conflict over whether to continue or withdraw (Mann 1996).…”

A query theory account of the effect of memory retrieval on the sunk cost bias

“…We depart from previous efforts by explaining the sunk cost bias in terms of underlying memory retrieval processes and value judgments. Understanding the processes behind the sunk cost bias is an important endeavor, because common strategies that have been proposed to reduce it, such as presenting alternatives (McCain, 1986), encouraging rational thinking (Brockner, Shaw, & Rubin, 1979), and setting minimum target progress before investing further (Boulding, Morgan, & Staelin, 1997), are only minimally effective (Boulding et al, 1997;Simonson & Staw, 1992). As the field continues to accumulate evidence of the bias, we hope that highlighting the cognitive process will offer fresh considerations and strategies for avoiding it.…”

Efekt nepovratnoga troška

“…Racionalnost možemo potaknuti i tako da ispitanike usmjerimo prema konkretnim strategijama donošenja odluka. Od posebnog je značenja jasno postavljanje očekivanja od projekta i ograničavanje buduće potrošnje (Brockner, Shaw i Rubin, 1979;Simonson i Staw, 1992). Ako unaprijed definiramo kakav ishod znači neuspjeh, kasnije ćemo biti manje slobodni u interpretacijama dvosmislenih informacija.…”