It's basic human nature to throw good money after bad because humans are twice as upset about losses as they are happy about wins. It's thusly common among people who know that to overcompensate for their own fallibility and go the other way.
Any research to back that up? I always thought that was a subjective thing, in that it varies for everyone.
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1981). The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice. Science, 211, 453-458.
However, I don't know enough to answer your question about in-population variance of this trait.