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Learning to de-escalate: The effects of regret in escalation of commitment

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  • Ku, Gillian

Abstract

The current research investigates whether and how individuals are able to learn from one escalation situation to another, hypothesizing that post-escalation regret will reduce subsequent escalation. In Experiment 1, individuals participated in an escalation task after escalating their commitments in a first escalation situation. In Experiment 2, participants' regret was manipulated by asking them to imagine engaging in an escalation situation. The experiments expand our theoretical and practical understanding of how to prevent escalation of commitment by demonstrating that escalation-specific regret--either experienced from an earlier escalation or primed through imagining an escalation scenario--reduced subsequent escalation in a different context. The discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical impact of regret and emotions in general in escalation of commitment.

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  • Ku, Gillian, 2008. "Learning to de-escalate: The effects of regret in escalation of commitment," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 105(2), pages 221-232, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:105:y:2008:i:2:p:221-232
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    Cited by:

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    3. Qin, Jie, 2015. "A model of regret, investor behavior, and market turbulence," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 150-174.
    4. Schaumberg, Rebecca L. & Wiltermuth, Scott S., 2014. "Desire for a positive moral self-regard exacerbates escalation of commitment to initiatives with prosocial aims," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 110-123.
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    6. George, Jennifer M. & Dane, Erik, 2016. "Affect, emotion, and decision making," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 47-55.
    7. McMullen, Jeffery S. & Kier, Alexander S., 2016. "Trapped by the entrepreneurial mindset: Opportunity seeking and escalation of commitment in the Mount Everest disaster," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 663-686.
    8. Blake E. Ashforth & Kristie M. Rogers & Michael G. Pratt & Camille Pradies, 2014. "Ambivalence in Organizations: A Multilevel Approach," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(5), pages 1453-1478, October.
    9. van de Calseyde, Philippe P.F.M. & Zeelenberg, Marcel & Evers, Ellen R.K., 2018. "The impact of doubt on the experience of regret," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 97-110.
    10. Ethan A. Meyers & Michał Białek & Jonathan A. Fugelsang & Derek J. Koehler & Ori Friedman, 2019. "Wronging past rights: The sunk cost bias distorts moral judgment," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 14(6), pages 721-727, November.
    11. Alex Imas & Diego Lamé & Alistair J. Wilson, 2016. "Regret in One-Shot and Recurrent Decisions: A Cautionary Tale," CESifo Working Paper Series 5939, CESifo.
    12. Matthew W. McCarter & Abel M. Winn, 2013. "When the Economics of a Decision Matters More than the Psychology of the Decision: Understanding the Economic Significance of Auction Fever," Working Papers 13-19, Chapman University, Economic Science Institute.
    13. Caterina Cruciani & Gloria Gardenal & Anna Moretti, 2015. "Knowing is trusting? An experimental test of the role of information in advisory," Working Papers 2, Venice School of Management - Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
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