Year: 2001
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: nce you recognize them, commitments are everywhere.The commitment we all know is marriage.By giving up the option to leave for someone else, spouses gain security and an opportunity for a much deeper (and more efficient!)relationship than would otherwise be possible.Yet many commitments are not at all nice.When John F. Kennedy committed the United States to eliminating missiles from Cuba, millions of human lives were put at risk.When a thuggish-looking man offers unrequested fire insurance to a small retail shop, the implied threat of arson may well influence the owner's behavior.In a more banal vein, nearly everyone has waited for a repairman who never arrives.From the personal to the political to the mundane, commitments are everywhere.Threats and promises change people's beliefs and, therefore, their actions.In a world without commitments social exchanges arise mainly from helping relatives and trading favors.In such a world individuals can reliably be expected to act straightforwardly in their own interests.The advent of commitment changes everything.As soon as one individual finds a way to convince another that he or she will act other than in simple self-interest, social life is transformed.Now, individuals must consider the possibility that others may fulfill promises and threats.Sometimes the situation itself makes fulfillment worthwhile, but apparently irrational commitments also may influence others profoundly.A whole new category of social influence emerges.
Author: Randolph M. Nesse
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3157779599