IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ratsoc/v13y2001i2p185-204.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Collective Precommitment From Temptation

Author

Listed:
  • Brian J. Glenn

Abstract

The literature on precommitment in order to avoid temptation has provided a powerful analytical tool in explaining individual behavior. However, a thorough discussion is lacking of how groups of like-minded individuals work together to bind themselves through even more powerful strategies. There are binding strategies, and combinations of strategies, that are difficult (if not impossible) to pursue individually. Thus, by working together, individuals may increase the chances of successfully resisting temptation while lowering the costs of doing so as well. One example of collective precommitment is the case of the Amish and Social Security. Social Security not only went against the religious beliefs of the Amish, but threatened their very society as well. By studying the Amish case, we can see how individuals working collectively can bind themselves more effectively than they can by working alone.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian J. Glenn, 2001. "Collective Precommitment From Temptation," Rationality and Society, , vol. 13(2), pages 185-204, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ratsoc:v:13:y:2001:i:2:p:185-204
    DOI: 10.1177/104346301013002002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/104346301013002002
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/104346301013002002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:cup:cbooks:9780521270724 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cory Anderson & Shuai Zhou & Guangqing Chi, 2023. "Population-Wide Vaccination Hesitancy among the Amish: A County-Level Study of COVID-19 Vaccine Adoption and Implications for Public Health Policy and Practice," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(4), pages 1-24, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ratsoc:v:13:y:2001:i:2:p:185-204. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.