ABSTRACT
In this chapter, a framework is introduced to illuminate the psychology of social commitment. The key new concept here is that of a sense of commitment. The sense of commitment is the psychological apparatus that enables us to identify cues that some other agent is expecting and relying on us to carry out particular actions, and to respond by boosting or stabilizing our motivations to perform those actions. As such, it serves to track and respond to situations in which someone is likely to be disappointed and potentially annoyed with us if we do not perform an action which they are expecting and potentially relying on us to perform.
