ABSTRACT
The purpose of exact sciences, which some human sciences refer to on a theoretical and methodological level is to model reality with a modelling strength indicator: the theory predictability level. This issue is frequently topical in human sciences. In social psychology, a subject between the individual and society, controlling the great number of variables at issue makes the researcher’s task much more complicated. This chapter discusses the main effects of commitment on cognition and acts, and the issue of the relationship between cognition and action. The completion of problematic behaviour and its effects is observed in the forced compliance paradigm. The chapter reviews behavioural and cognitive changes resulting from the completion of a commitment act, in the forced compliance and compliance without pressure paradigms. Both rationalisation and commitment mechanisms provide reproducibility and perseverance over time, and possibly application to other behaviours.
