Final answer:
People repeat bad decisions or invest more in failing actions due to 'escalation of commitment' and cognitive biases such as the sunk-cost fallacy and confirmation bias.
Step-by-step explanation:
The phenomenon where people repeat an apparently bad decision or allocate more resources to a failing course of action is known as the escalation of commitment. This cognitive bias is often driven by the desire to not waste previous investments, whether they are of time, effort, or other resources, which is closely related to the sunk-cost fallacy. Essentially, individuals continue to invest in the same decision due to the fallacy of attaching greater value to something than is warranted just because they have already invested in it. This idea is further complicated in ethical scenarios such as warfare, as suggested by just-war theory and the assessment of sunk moral costs. Other cognitive biases like confirmation bias and the substitution heuristic also contribute to the inclination to stick with previous decisions, despite evidence suggesting it may be unwise to do so.