A STUDY OF DECISION COMMITMENT AND STRATEGY (GROUP DECISION-MAKING, ESCALATION OF COMMITMENT, ENTRAPMENT)
Abstract
Research indicates that when decision makers are faced with a second opportunity to invest in a project, they often substantially increase their investments, even after previous investments have not paid off. This increasing commitment is commonly referred to as "escalation of commitment" or "entrapment". Although increased commitment to a resource allocation decision has been replicated for individuals making a single decision, it remains unclear what happens to commitment when a group makes a series of decisions while suffering heavy losses after each decision. Past studies have shown both that commitment to decisions may last over multiple decisions, or that commitment may end early in decision making. It was hypothesized and tested that if social factors were present in a situation, commitment would increase over multiple decisions, whereas if no social factor was present, then commitment would not last over multiple decisions. It was also predicted that for groups with less commitment, commitment would end when half the original investment money was spent. None of the hypotheses were directly supported. However, there was some indication that subjects' decision strategies became fixed after half the decisions were made, lending credence to the notion that half the resources (in this case resources equal number of decisions) is a factor affecting decision strategy.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Occupational psychology
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