Commitment

What is Commitment?

Commitment means maintaining an intention, decision, or obligation. It can support long-term goals. Commitment bias describes sticking with an earlier decision despite new evidence against it. A related research concept, escalation of commitment, concerns situations in which a person invests further resources in a course of action despite unfavorable feedback.

In Staw’s experiment on escalating commitment, participants in a simulated investment task committed the most additional resources when they were personally responsible for an earlier negative outcome. This is evidence about a particular decision setting, not proof that persistence is always a mistake.

When Does Persistence Become a Problem?

To assess a commitment, distinguish the benefits and costs expected from continuing now from the wish to justify what has already been invested. Continuing can still be reasonable when the expected future benefits warrant it.