As much as we’d like to believe, our minds don’t process information in an objective and rational fashion. Extensive research reveals that we have many cognitive biases, in which our minds have a natural propensity to process information in a particular and biased way. A simple example is the negativity bias, where we tend to notice and remember negative events much more than positive ones (sound familiar?). Another bias is the sunk-cost bias, in which, if we have already devoted time, energy, money, etc. to something, we tend to feel compelled to keep on going and investing in that cause, even if we would be better off just moving on and not wasting any more of our resources. Sometimes these biases exist because they haven proven useful, but sometimes in our modern day it can be useful to overcome them (ex. pulling out of a bad investment or project, not wasting our calories on finishing a dessert that we really don’t like).
In a series of 3 studies, researchers at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and collaborators at INSEAD examined how mindfulness influences our susceptibility to this sunk-cost bias. In their first correlational study, they discovered a positive relationship between trait mindfulness and resistance to the sunk-cost bias. The next study found that a mindfulness meditation induction led people to experience greater resistance to the sunk-cost bias. Why does mindfulness lead to this decreased susceptibility to the sunk-cost bias? The third experiment showed that it was due in part to how mindfulness shifts our attention from focusing on the past and the future to focusing more on the present moment, and in part due to how mindfulness reduces our negative emotions. So if you ever find yourself thinking “well, I’ve already come this far, I should really just stick it out…” take a moment of mindfulness and see if maybe, just maybe, it might be better to cut your losses, move on, and never look back at that terrible chocolate cake.
Keryn Breiterman-Loader
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