Overcoming Cognitive Inertia: The Role of Epistemic Motivation for Second-order Learning

Prior Population Ecology and Carnegie perspectives point to the social, individual, largely cognitive inertial forces that managers need to overcome in order to circumvent selective pressures. To address this issue this paper treats cognitive inertia as a liability of prior beliefs, to theorize on how beliefs and reasoning strategies come to be updated over time. Drawing from social-cognitive Dual Process Theories of Motivated Reasoning, this paper outlines determinants (cognitive ability and epistemic motivation) and a process model of second-order learning, where managers sometimes learn to overcome the liability of prior beliefs through reflective reasoning. Contributions to adaptive cognition, microfoundations of capabilities, and of collective inertia research are intended to be made.