There's always that one friend that stays with the horrible boyfriend or girlfriend for waaaaay too long.
Whether their other half is actually mean, really unmotivated and smelly or maybe just a complete wet blanket, she stays with him for months and months, maybe even years and you cannot for the life of you figure out why.
If you don't have a friend like that, then it's probably you.
Sorry to break it to you, but it's scientifically proven that there is one girl/ boy like this in every friendship group.
O.K. we made that bit up.
But there is a scientific term behind the logic of staying with someone when it obviously isn't a good relationship.
It's called the 'Sunk Cost Effect'.
It's the idea that when you have invested a certain amount of time/effort/ money/ emotion you stay in a situation with the hope of it getting better, despite all the evidence it won't.
Think of it this way, imagine you queued ages to get into a club, spent £20 on the door, only to find no people in there, £14 cocktails and rubbish music.
What do you do, do you cut your losses?
Or do you stay and make the best of it.
Surely it all depends on whether there are any other good men- we mean clubs - around?
The same thing happens in a relationship, the longer you stay with someone, the more emotional investment you put into it, even the financial investment (think flat-share, holidays together, a cat, a house) they less likely you are to leave.
This is all according to this Springer Study.
So next time you berate yourself or your friend for being in a relationship that's gone sour for about three crying meltdowns too long, it's got nothing to do with emotion, its all science.
It's time to sit down and do some cost-benefit analysis, stat.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
