Escalation of commitment

Biological Parallel

Elephant seals fight for beach territories—escalating from posturing to violent combat. Once blood is drawn, neither retreats despite mounting injury costs. The mechanism: sunk costs (energy, wounds) plus audience effects (losing face to observing females) create escalation. Evolutionary game theory shows that commitment escalation can be rational when reputation costs exceed immediate injury. But it becomes pathological when environmental conditions shift and the prize becomes worthless mid-contest.