Üsküdar University NP Feneryolu Medical Center Psychiatrist Assist. Assoc. Dr. Erman Şentürk made an assessment of what is called the “Concorde delusion” in psychiatry.
Assist. Assoc. Dr. Erman Şentürk defined the Concorde delusion as “the state of not giving up on something that an individual has spent a lot of effort, time, energy and money on, knowing that the result will result in unhappiness, failure or loss, and insisting on continuing it”. Şentürk said, “The Concorde fallacy is a kind of irrational decision-making in the form of 'holding on to the past at the expense of giving up the future'.
Referring to the factors underlying this inability to give up, Assist. Assoc. Dr. Erman Şentürk said, “This situation is explained by the expectation theory. According to the expectancy theory, the effort that an individual spends for a certain purpose is directly proportional to the benefit and return expected from the result. Therefore, the choice of behavior and the main motivation that will lead the person to the result depend on the attractiveness of the reward to be won and how desirable it is. This situation causes the individual, who is faced with the expectation of losing the award and has difficulty in accepting this situation, to seek risk and, as a result, to the Concorde delusion.
Assist. Assoc. Dr. Erman Şentürk stated that the Concorde fallacy is frequently used in the field of behavioral finance with the term "sunk cost illusion" and its examples are also encountered in daily life and continued his words as follows:
“The Concorde fallacy explains the cognitive errors we make not only in the field of economics but also in various life events. According to the Concorde fallacy, the greater the emotional, financial, or temporal investment one makes in a plan, program, relationship, job, or school, the stronger the desire to preserve or maintain an existing one. Sentences such as 'We spent so much money...', 'I studied for this exam for months...', 'I spent years in this school...', 'I put a lot of effort into this relationship…' are some examples of Concorde fallacies that we often encounter in daily life. The proverb in our language, 'Where you turn from loss, is profit' may be one of the best examples to counter the Concorde fallacy.”
Noting that there were various changes in the brain before and during the onset of this mistake, Assist. Assoc. Dr. Erman Şentürk, said: "A recent study has revealed that dopamine release in some parts of the brain's reward center is greatly affected by the effort to obtain the reward, that is, the sunk cost, and sunk cost is directly related to dopamine release."
Asst. Assoc. Dr. Erman Şentürk said, “This situation is related to the fact that the instincts and emotions of the people, who are assumed to act within the framework of reason, often underlie their decisions. The Concorde fallacy is a cognitive error that can be observed in many people, regardless of their qualifications, education, intelligence, or intelligence. However, it is more common in people who are resistant to change and innovation, accepting, submissive, having difficulty in taking action, procrastinating, having intense regrets about the past, intolerant of uncertainty, and low socioeconomic level and self-control. It is known that young people are more likely to be affected by the Concorde delusion than older people.
Psychiatrist Assist. Assoc. Dr. Erman Şentürk added that individuals with the Concorde delusion are more prone to certain psychiatric conditions such as anxiety disorder, depression, somatization disorder, gambling disorder and binge eating disorder, as compared to other individuals, they wait longer while seeking medical help.
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