title: Debiasing the mind through meditation: mindfulness and the sunk-cost bias.
abstract: In the research reported here, we investigated the debiasing effect of mindfulness meditation on the sunk-cost bias. We conducted four studies (one correlational and three experimental); the results suggest that increased mindfulness reduces the tendency to allow unrecoverable prior costs to influence current decisions. Study 1 served as an initial correlational demonstration of the positive relationship between trait mindfulness and resistance to the sunk-cost bias. Studies 2a and 2b were laboratory experiments examining the effect of a mindfulness-meditation induction on increased resistance to the sunk-cost bias. In Study 3, we examined the mediating mechanisms of temporal focus and negative affect, and we found that the sunk-cost bias was attenuated by drawing one's temporal focus away from the future and past and by reducing state negative affect, both of which were accomplished through mindfulness meditation.
authors: 1Department of Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD.
authors: Andrew C
authors: AC
authors: Hafenbrack
authors: Zoe
authors: Z
authors: Kinias
authors: Sigal G
authors: SG
authors: Barsade
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D000368:Aged; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D064866:Mindfulness / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: decision making; emotions; intervention; meditation; mindfulness