Consistency principle is a social anchoring effect

“There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking.” —Sir Joshua Reynolds

Once someone expresses a position or opinion, they tend toward remaining consistent with what they have expressed.

It is our desire to be (and to appear) consistent with what we have already said or done. Once we make a choice or take a stand, we encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to think and behave consistently with that commitment. Moreover, those pressures will cause us to respond in ways that justify our decision.^[1]

The drive to remain consistent is a powerful driving force, “often causing us to act in ways contrary to our own best interest.”^[2] Why is that?

To understand why consistency is so powerful a motive, we should recognize that in most circumstances, it is valued and adaptive. Inconsistency is commonly thought to be an undesirable personality trait. The person whose beliefs, words, and deeds don’t match is seen as confused, two-faced, even mentally ill. On the other side, a high degree of consistency is normally associated with personal and intellectual strength. It is the heart of logic, rationality, stability, and honesty.

In short, consistency is a mental shortcut that obviates the need to think.

First, like most other forms of automatic responding, consistency offers a shortcut through the complexities of modern life. Once we have made up our minds about an issue, stubborn consistency allows us an appealing luxury: we don’t have to think hard about the issue anymore. We don’t have to sift through the blizzard of information we encounter every day to identify relevant facts; we don’t have to expend the mental energy to weigh the pros and cons; we don’t have to make any further tough decisions.^[3]

#influence #psychology