Scientific Definition
Binding the future self with a present cost-of-defection to overcome impulse and inertia.
Plain-English Definition
Binding the future self with a present cost-of-defection to overcome impulse and inertia.
Feynman Explanation
Ulysses tied himself to the mast. So should your strategy.
Core Principle
Binding the future self with a present cost-of-defection to overcome impulse and inertia.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Binding the future self with a present cost-of-defection to overcome impulse and inertia.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Goals without commitment devices are weather reports.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Ulysses tied himself to the mast. So should your strategy.
Examples
- Auto-escalating 401(k) contributions; stickK-style penalty bets.
- Goals without commitment devices are weather reports.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Pair every goal with a binding mechanism, public or financial.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Pair every goal with a binding mechanism, public or financial.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
A mechanism that locks you into a future action to overcome present temptation.
Continuing a failing course of action because of prior investment.
How will I feel about this in 10 minutes / 10 months / 10 years?
Inattention or forgetfulness caused by low attention, hyperfocus, or distraction.
Forgetting to compare an offer with the next-best alternative.
Outcomes that could have happened but did not.
Overthinking a situation so that decision-making stalls.
The first number on the table silently sets the range for every number after it.
Tversky & Kahneman's classic: identical outcomes flip from 'risk averse' to 'risk seeking' when framed as lives saved vs. lives lost.
Our perception is shaped by what we selectively pay attention to.
Favoring suggestions from automated systems over conflicting human judgment.
A color appears different depending on adjacent colors.