---

The US administration current attitude in iraq seems to
give another illustration of the *commitment effect*, a
phenomena known in social psychology and described
in the behavioral finance glossary (just replace the word
*stocks* by *war*) at:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pgreenfinch/bfglo/bfglo.c.htm
1. If somebody started doing something (for example
investing in some stocks), it feels obliged (committed)
quite often:
* to stick to it (keep the stocks),
* often also to go further (buy more of those stocks).
=>Another aspect of this "foot on the door" effect (see
it also in the glossary) is that it could be used as a
manipulation technique.
2. Also, in the longer run, the most effort, hope, time
and/or money somebody "invests" in something, the
more committed that person feels not to abandon it,
even if things turn bad. This is a kind of sentimental
"loss aversion", one of the factors leading to the
"prospect theory" (see also those words in the glossary).