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169:, a general in Ancient China, who positioned his soldiers with their backs to a river, making it impossible for them to flee, thereby leaving them no choice but to attack the enemy head-on. They also present various commitment devices related to weight loss. In addition, some game theorists have argued that human emotions and sense of honor are forms of commitment device. Other examples include announcing commitments publicly and
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103:' song without jumping overboard. Economist Jodi Beggs writes "Commitment devices are a way to overcome the discrepancy between an individual's short-term and long-term preferences; in other words, they are a way for self-aware people to modify their incentives or set of possible choices in order to overcome impatience or other irrational behavior. You know the story of
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It can be challenging to promote uptake of commitment devices. In the field of health, for example, commitment devices have the potential to increase patient adherence to their health goals, but utilization of these techniques is low. Health professionals can potentially increase patient uptake of
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Behavioral economist Daniel
Goldstein describes how commitment devices established in "cold states" help and protect themselves against impulsive decisions in later, emotional, stimulated, "hot states". Goldstein says that, despite their usefulness, commitment devices nevertheless have drawbacks.
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in the agent. If the agent enters a situation where the device does not incentivize commitment, the agent may not have enough will power or ability to control themselves. (Goldstein uses the example of a cake falling into the grey area of a diet, so it is eaten excessively.) Second, commitment
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Commitment devices have two major features. They are voluntarily adopted for use and they tie consequences to follow-through failures. Consequences can be immutable (irreversible, such as a monetary consequence) or mutable (allows for the possibility of future reversal of the consequence).
54:, a way to lock oneself into following a plan of action that one might not want to do, but which one knows is good for oneself. In other words, a commitment device is a way to give oneself a reward or punishment to make what might otherwise become an empty promise stronger and believable.
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Goldstein says "In effect you are like
Odysseus and the first mate in one person. You're binding yourself, and then you're weaseling your way out of it, and then you're beating yourself up for it afterwards."
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tying himself to the mast so that he couldn't be lured in by the song of the Sirens? You can think of that as the quintessential commitment device".
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purportedly created a commitment device for his soldiers: he placed them with their backs to a river to make sure they would fight.
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188:(an organization she doesn't support) and asked a friend to mail it in if Wu didn't complete the screenplay in five weeks.
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commitment devices by increasing their accessibility, making policies opt-out, and leveraging patients’ social networks.
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Namely, they still rely on some self-control. Goldstein says that, for one, a commitment device can promote
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A soldier receives a Medal of Honor. Game theorists suggest that human cultural constructs like
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devices can usually be reversed. (An unplugged distracting electronic can be plugged back in.)
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Make a bet or monetary contract with someone to increase the benefit of keeping one's promise.
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A commitment device is a technique where someone makes it easier for themselves to avoid
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383:"Put Your Money Where Your Butt Is: A Commitment Contract For Smoking Cessation"
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Examples of commitment devices abound. Dubner and Levitt give the example of
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A common example comes from mythology: Odysseus' plan to survive hearing the
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Create larger obstacles to temptations to increase the costs of temptations.
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successfully employed a commitment device to complete the screenplay for
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Make one's commitment public, so one's reputation may be affected.
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Dubner and Levitt, Stephen J. and Steven D. (November 18, 2007).
476:"Alice Wu's the Half of It is a Thoroughly Modern Queer Romance"
215:, a website that enables people to make "commitment contracts"
552:"Commitment Devices under Self-Control Problems: An Overview"
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The term "commitment device" is used in both economics and
500:"Evolution of cooperation: Emotion as a commitment device"
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Dubner, Stephen J.; Levitt, Steven D. (18 November 2007).
288:"Commitment Devices: Using Initiatives to Change Behavior"
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Brocas, Isabelle; Juan D. Carrillo; Mathias
Dewatripont.
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628:, a platform that helps people stay committed to goals
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lashed to the mast by his first mate. Depicted by the
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Giné, Xavier; Karlan, Dean; Zinman, Jonathan (2009).
61:(acting against one's better judgment), particularly
258:"How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding"
362:The battle between your present and future self
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504:Evolutionary Theory across the Life Sciences
387:American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
539:"Be Careful With Those Commitment Devices…"
569:Ross, Don; Dumouchel, Paul (August 2004).
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161:might function as commitment devices.
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256:Reeves, Daniel (November 15, 2010).
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184:. Wu wrote a $ 1000 check to the
571:"Emotions as Strategic Signals"
432:"The Stomach-Surgery Conundrum"
239:"The Stomach-Surgery Conundrum"
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537:Beggs, Jodi (June 17, 2009).
282:Rogers, T.; Milkman, K. L.;
171:mutually assured destruction
46:is, according to journalist
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393:(4). World Bank: 213–235.
453:Ross & Dumouchel 2004
34:Chinese military general
587:10.1177/1043463104044678
575:Rationality and Society
606:Straker, Dave (2011).
498:Arslan, Ruben (2011).
307:10.1001/jama.2014.3485
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642:Behavioral economics
608:"Commitment Devices"
113:learned helplessness
399:10.1257/app.2.4.213
203:Positive psychology
18:Credible commitment
520:Carrots and Sticks
436:The New York Times
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529:978-0-553-80763-9
301:(20): 2065–2066.
48:Stephen J. Dubner
44:commitment device
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449:Arslan 2011
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636:Categories
522:. Bantam.
516:Ayres, Ian
408:10986/4177
368:2020-05-06
342:Beggs 2009
225:References
176:Filmmaker
140:Challenges
626:Nudgewise
595:145646865
518:(2010).
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328:Brocas,
315:24777472
286:(2014).
192:See also
178:Alice Wu
82:Odysseus
73:Overview
167:Han Xin
124:Methods
105:Ulysses
59:akrasia
36:Han Xin
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330:et al.
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213:StickK
101:sirens
591:S2CID
562:(PDF)
555:(PDF)
413:S2CID
291:(PDF)
159:honor
524:ISBN
451:and
311:PMID
295:JAMA
583:doi
403:hdl
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