Have you ever encountered a subpar hotel breakfast while on holiday? You don’t really like the food choices on offer, but since you already paid for the meal as part of your booking, you force ...

The sunk cost fallacy addresses the tendency of people to continue on a suboptimal path because they have committed a lot of time or resources to it already. Investors, for example, may double down on ...

Explore the sunk cost dilemma, a key financial concept impacting decisions on investing in failing projects. Learn how to manage it with real-world examples and insights.

What happens when an entrepreneur realizes their project isn't delivering? It can create a crossroad between perseverance and prudence—the point where passion meets pragmatism. The resulting decision ...

It was a Words with Friends chat that first gave Megan Phelps-Roper pause. People have a marked tendency to cling to past investments, whether financial, social, or emotional—even when it becomes ...

Human beings do not respond rationally to “sunk costs.” We persist in doing what we’ve always done because, well, that’s what we’ve always done. We confuse loyalty with stubbornness. We are reluctant ...

As some Republicans express buyer's remorse about Donald Trump's selection of J.D. Vance as the “worst choice” for vice president and Joe Biden ditches his stubbornness about staying in the 2024 ...

Joe Biden’s self-inflicted electoral crisis is a classic case study in the “sunk cost fallacy.” As Vice President Kamala Harris and party leaders pour resources into the president’s flailing campaign, ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Mark Travers writes about the world of psychology. Unhappy relationships are an unfortunate reality for many. People find ...