Knee-deep in the big muddy: a study of escalating commitment to a chosen course of action
Staw's study gave the field escalation of commitment. Business students allocated research funding to one division of a company, were told their decision had gone badly or well, and were then given a second allocation to make. Those told their first decision had failed put more money into the same division than those told it had succeeded, which is the opposite of what the new information warranted. The pattern is now studied across organisational behaviour, economics and sociology, and it is distinguished from the sunk cost fallacy by a matter of emphasis: sunk cost concerns irrecoverable past spending, while escalation concerns the personal investment of the decision maker in having been right. The title comes from a song about a patrol wading deeper into a river while the sergeant insists on pressing on. This page describes the phenomenon from public material, because no abstract of the 1976 paper is publicly available.
Staw's study gave the field escalation of commitment. Business students allocated research funding to one division of a company, were told their decision had gone badly or well, and were then given a second allocation to make. Those told their first decision had failed put more money into the same division than those told it had succeeded, which is the opposite of what the new information warranted. The pattern is now studied across organisational behaviour, economics and sociology, and it is distinguished from the sunk cost fallacy by a matter of emphasis: sunk cost concerns irrecoverable past spending, while escalation concerns the personal investment of the decision maker in having been right. The title comes from a song about a patrol wading deeper into a river while the sergeant insists on pressing on. This page describes the phenomenon from public material, because no abstract of the 1976 paper is publicly available.
Written from the public account of the phenomenon this paper introduced.
What our sources record
Reproduced as it was written when this source was checked, figures and all.
Staw, B. M. (1976). "Knee-Deep in the Big Muddy: A Study of Escalating Commitment to a Chosen Course of Action." Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 27-44. 240 business students; those who personally chose the failing division allocated the most additional funds.
Where we use it
- Why You Finish the Series You Stopped Enjoying, Why We Act
Reliability of this reference
The link below was matched against the publisher's record on title, first author and year, and all three agree.
The source
https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-5073(76)90005-290005-2)
DOI: 10.1016/0030-5073(76)90005-2