The psychological principle that people have a strong drive to appear and be consistent with their previous commitments, statements, and actions. Once individuals take a position or make a commitment, they experience internal pressure to behave in ways that align with that commitment.
This principle combines 'commitment' from Latin 'committere' (to join together) and 'consistency' from Latin 'consistere' (to stand firm). The psychological concept was developed through research on cognitive dissonance and self-perception theory in the mid-20th century.
Your brain is like a personal consistency police officer, constantly checking that your current actions match your past commitments! This is why writing down goals makes them more powerful, and why people will stick with bad decisions just to avoid admitting they were wrong.
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