<p>I'm new to CogSci and to Psychology in general, so forgive me if this question has been answered before...</p>

<p>I see a pattern in many sociological environments that goes like this:</p>

<ol>
<li>Someone promises a better (possibly imaginary) state of living to someone else</li>
<li>But this better state will only be achieved if the someone else endures a hardship period or similar</li>
<li>A lot of "Someone elses" go through the hardship, and many of them endure a lot of time and justify what they are doing, even though nothing has really changed.</li>
</ol>

<p>What I am most interested in is this aspect of point 3: that, even if there isn't a real difference, people will think there is, just because they endured the hardship.</p>

<p>Some examples:</p>

<p>a) A promise that some phone/shoe/whatever is much better than the alternative, but it is overpriced. People who bought it (endured the hardship) will find a justification for it at any cost (even if there isn't one).</p>

<p>b) A promise to achieve a peaceful state of mind through daily meditation for a long period of time. People who are committed to meditating will find any small improvement in life as if it was related to that.</p>

<p><strong>Is there a psychological term for this "phenomenon"/behavior? Has it been studied (I'm sure it might have been)?</strong></p>

<p>This may be related to consistency theory, but I'm not sure about that. Any indications of articles about it would be welcome.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-17T19:22:09.620Z
related to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalation_of_commitment?
Memming
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-18T11:26:37.630Z
Yes! I think that's exactly it. Thank you. If you want to post that as an answer, I will accept that.
usernameiwantedwasalreadytaken
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-01T03:34:47.023Z
The psychological term for this is [cognitive dissonance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance), which happens unconsciously, and is indeed one of several forms of consistency theory.  The loss aversion / sunk-cost / escalation of commitment rationalizations are typically *consciously* expressed explanations for behavior "I know it isn't working, but I have already committed so much to this, that I might as well go all the way", which is not something you would typically hear from people who overpay for things or persist with some medical quackery.
Arnon Weinberg
<social-psychology><decision-making><behavior><commitment>
Is there a psychological term for enduring hardship to achieve a promised state?
usernameiwantedwasalreadytaken
# Is there a psychological term for enduring hardship to achieve a promised state?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-05-17)

I'm new to CogSci and to Psychology in general, so forgive me if this question has been answered before...

I see a pattern in many sociological environments that goes like this:

1. Someone promises a better (possibly imaginary) state of living to someone else
2. But this better state will only be achieved if the someone else endures a hardship period or similar
3. A lot of "Someone elses" go through the hardship, and many of them endure a lot of time and justify what they are doing, even though nothing has really changed.

What I am most interested in is this aspect of point 3: that, even if there isn't a real difference, people will think there is, just because they endured the hardship.

Some examples:

a) A promise that some phone/shoe/whatever is much better than the alternative, but it is overpriced. People who bought it (endured the hardship) will find a justification for it at any cost (even if there isn't one).

b) A promise to achieve a peaceful state of mind through daily meditation for a long period of time. People who are committed to meditating will find any small improvement in life as if it was related to that.

**Is there a psychological term for this "phenomenon"/behavior? Has it been studied (I'm sure it might have been)?**

This may be related to consistency theory, but I'm not sure about that. Any indications of articles about it would be welcome.

**Tags:** social-psychology, decision-making, behavior, commitment

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: related to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalation_of_commitment?  
> **username_0**: Yes! I think that's exactly it. Thank you. If you want to post that as an answer, I will accept that.  
> **username_2**: The psychological term for this is [cognitive dissonance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance), which happens unconsciously, and is indeed one of several forms of consistency theory.  The loss aversion / sunk-cost / escalation of commitment rationalizations are typically *consciously* expressed explanations for behavior "I know it isn't working, but I have already committed so much to this, that I might as well go all the way", which is not something you would typically hear from people who overpay for things or persist with some medical quackery.  

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## 0 answers

