"I'm paying a high price--THEREFORE--it must really be worth it all."
Yes, I am reminded of the terms: loss aversion and the sunk cost fallacy. Even when met with irrefutable proof that the religion in false by its own standards, the average JW can't concede anything.
Looking back on years of sacrifice and suffering to belong to the religion, what would it mean to do an about face? To admit you were wrong?
Tough pill to swallow. The a**holes that run the religion, however, have a way of forcing it down.