when one engages in spring-cleaning, one may wind up throwing or giving away a great many things which one has owned for months or years but had not disposed of before; is this an instance of sunk cost where you over-valued them simply because you had held onto them for X months, or is this an instance of you simply never before devoting a few seconds to pondering whether you genuinely liked that checkered scarf?
If (during spring cleaning) you balk at throwing away something simply because it’s sat so long in your basement, you are tempted to justify holding on to it a little bit more, then that’s an instance of SCF.
If you balk at even doing spring cleaning (as I personally know some of my friends do) because the outcome is going to be reconsideration of your ownership of some items that you don’t really value, but that you have “invested” in by keeping them in storage—then that is again an instance of SCF.
Spring cleaning itself, when it involves throwing things away, is an instance of cutting your losses. Storing items in anticipation of future use is not SCF (though it may be an instance of fooling yourself). Ergo, that you allow months or years to pass between storing items and spring cleaning is not per se an instance of SCF, even though past use of your storage space does represent a sunk cost.
ETA: on the other hand, balking at throwing something away because of emotional attachment does not necessarily qualify as SCF. For instance, throwing away kid toys that you know your now-grown kids are never going to use again, and that putative grandchildren are unlikely to use, but you would like to retain the option of using these items later to bring back happy memories.
If (during spring cleaning) you balk at throwing away something simply because it’s sat so long in your basement, you are tempted to justify holding on to it a little bit more, then that’s an instance of SCF.
If you balk at even doing spring cleaning (as I personally know some of my friends do) because the outcome is going to be reconsideration of your ownership of some items that you don’t really value, but that you have “invested” in by keeping them in storage—then that is again an instance of SCF.
Spring cleaning itself, when it involves throwing things away, is an instance of cutting your losses. Storing items in anticipation of future use is not SCF (though it may be an instance of fooling yourself). Ergo, that you allow months or years to pass between storing items and spring cleaning is not per se an instance of SCF, even though past use of your storage space does represent a sunk cost.
ETA: on the other hand, balking at throwing something away because of emotional attachment does not necessarily qualify as SCF. For instance, throwing away kid toys that you know your now-grown kids are never going to use again, and that putative grandchildren are unlikely to use, but you would like to retain the option of using these items later to bring back happy memories.
Balking at getting rid of things you own may sometimes be more about the endowment effect than the sunk cost fallacy.