A Recurring Capture Pattern in Performance Evaluation Systems: Why behavior tends to converge toward short-term measurable outcomes

In many evaluation systems, individuals tend to prioritize actions that produce short-term, measurable results over those that generate long-term value. This paper documents a Recurring Capture Pattern (RCP) observed in performance evaluation systems. Under the institutional condition of evaluation structures that prioritize observable short-term outcomes as primary performance indicators, individually rational behavior systematically converges not toward long-term value creation and exploratory activity, but toward short-term performance optimization. As these behaviors accumulate, they alter the operational conditions of the system itself, resulting in evaluation criteria and behavioral environments increasingly reinforcing short-term outcome orientation, and reinforcing the same behavioral convergence through a recursive institutional feedback loop. The pattern ultimately produces a structural suppression of long-term value formation and exploratory activity, indicating a structural misalignment between institutional objectives and rational behavioral adaptation. This paper analytically describes the structural relationship between institutional design and rational behavioral adaptation.