Influence

Chapter 3

COMMITMENT AND

CONSISTENCY

Hobgoblins of the Mind

It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.

—LEONARDO DA VINCI

A

STUDY DONE BY A PAIR OF CANADIAN PSYCHOLOGISTS UNCOVERED
something fascinating about people at the racetrack: Just after
placing a bet, they are much more confident of their horse’s chances of
winning than they are immediately before laying down that bet.^1 Of
course, nothing about the horse’s chances actually shifts; it’s the same
horse, on the same track, in the same field; but in the minds of those
bettors, its prospects improve significantly once that ticket is purchased.
Although a bit puzzling at first glance, the reason for the dramatic
change has to do with a common weapon of social influence. Like the
other weapons of influence, this one lies deep within us, directing our
actions with quiet power. It is, quite simply, our nearly obsessive desire
to be (and to appear) consistent with what we have already done. Once
we have made a choice or taken a stand, we will encounter personal
and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with that commit-
ment. Those pressures will cause us to respond in ways that justify our
earlier decision.
Take the bettors in the racetrack experiment. Thirty seconds before
putting down their money, they had been tentative and uncertain; thirty
seconds after the deed, they were significantly more optimistic and self-
assured. The act of making a final decision—in this case, of buying a