Commitment Upgrade Research Based On The Perspective Of Goal Progress

Escalation of commitment is manifested as a behavior in which an individual resists withdrawing from a failing course of action despite negative feedback and continue allocating resources into previously chosen course of action.To date,a variety of theoretical explanations have been offered as to what causes escalation of commitment,including personal responsibility,the sunk cost effect,and the completion effect.Nonetheless,what is missing in our understanding is the role that goals can play in escalation situations.This represents a significant gap in escalation research,as goals are a fundamental element driving many human behaviors.Further,escalation researchers recently suggested that escalation behavior can be understood as an activity that is directed by goals.Therefore,this research aims to study the impact of goals on escalation of commitment by examining goal progress,goal tenacity and goal commitment during the escalation.This research consists of three studies,in which participants randomly chosen from the university.The study l adopted single variable between-subject design.The study 2 adopted 2(goal progress:high vs.low)* 2(goal tenacity:high vs.low)between-subject design.The study 3 adopted 2(goal progress:high vs.low)* 2(goal commitment:high vs.low)between-subject design.The participants are randomly chosen from the university school.The results show that:(1)The goal progress significantly influenced the escalation of commitment,and the perceived possibility of success mediates the relationship between goal progress and escalation of commitment.(2)The goal tenacity significantly influenced escalation of commitment the escalation of commitment,which means,the decision maker who has high goal tenacity level is more willing to continue the previous action than the one who has low goal tenacity level.(3)The goal progress and goal commitment have significantly interaction effect.Under the low goal progress,the participants who have high goal commitment have much more escalation of commitment than participants who has low.Under the high goal progress,however,the level of goal commitment both high no matter the level of goal commitment.This research provides supporting evidence of the escalation-increasing effect of goal.When decision maker continues allocating resource to the previous goal,he will be affected by goal progress,goal tenacity and goal commitment.