Escalation is the process of increasing or rising, derived from the concept of an
escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a Electric motor, motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the st ...
. Specific uses of the term include:
*
Cost escalation, an increase in the price of goods
*
Conflict escalation, an increase in the intensity of a conflict
*
Escalation hypothesis, a theory in evolutionary biology
*
Escalation of commitment
Escalation of commitment is a human behavior pattern in which an individual or group facing increasingly negative outcomes from a decision, action, or investment nevertheless continue the behavior instead of altering course. The actor maintains ...
, an aspect of game theory
*
Privilege escalation
Privilege escalation is the act of exploiting a Software bug, bug, a Product defect, design flaw, or a configuration oversight in an operating system or software application to gain elevated access to resource (computer science), resources that ar ...
, a computer security process
*
Technological escalation, a technological version of an arms race
Entertainment
*
''Escalation'' (1968 Italian film), a 1968 Italian film
*
''Escalation'' (1968 animated film), a 1968 anti-Vietnam War animated cartoon, directed by Ward Kimball
*
Escalation Studios
Bethesda Game Studios is an American video game developer and a studio of ZeniMax Media based in Rockville, Maryland. It is best known for its action role-playing franchises, including ''The Elder Scrolls'', ''Fallout'', and '' Starfield''. Bet ...
, an American video game developer
See also
*
De-escalation
De-escalation refers to the methods and actions taken to decrease the severity of a conflict, whether of physical, verbal or another nature. It is the opposite of escalation. De-escalation may also refer to approaches in conflict resolution, b ...
, an attempt to quell conflict
{{disambiguation