Framework · Influence · Influence
Commitment and consistency
Once people take a stand, by word or deed, they feel inner and social pressure to act consistently with it, and they generate new reasons for it. Commitments change self-image most when they are active, public, effortful and, above all, freely chosen.
Plain label: people stay consistent with what they didAlso known as: commitment, consistency, self-image, foot-in-the-door, inner choice
The engine (Ch.3, pp.43-57) INF-M-18 (Influence Ch.3, p.43). A stand is taken, consistency pressure follows, reasons and confidence grow, behavior follows, and under the right conditions self-image changes.
Four properties INF-M-20 (Influence Ch.3, p.57) (Ch.3, pp.57-74)
- Active: written beats spoken, and even copying counts (in-t-cc-09).
- Public: the more people saw it, the harder it is to back out (in-t-cc-12).
- Effortful: costly commitments are valued more (in-t-cc-21).
- Inner choice: no large reward or threat. The book says it outweighs the other three combined (in-t-cc-23).
Commitments grow their own legs INF-M-28 (Influence Ch.3, p.74) (Ch.3, pp.74-79). They spread to related acts, persist, and produce new reasons that survive the removal of the original one. That is why the lowball works (in-t-cc-27) and why a small first step raises later compliance (in-t-cc-05).
The defense (Ch.3, pp.79-85). Consistency is valuable; foolish consistency is the problem. The book's re-choice question (if I were deciding today, with what I now know, would I make the same choice?) is the product's renewal moment (in-t-cc-31).
In a product [S]. A commitment ladder with value at each rung and the endpoint visible from the start (in-t-cc-34), scored with the Commitment Quality Score (in-commitment-quality-score).
Sources
Influence · Robert Cialdini
Ch.3, p.43 · Ch.3, p.57 · Ch.3, p.74
Source IDs: INF-M-18INF-M-20INF-M-28
Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.
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