Interpersonal Commitments Research Articles

Interpersonal Commitment: The Hidden Power of Face-to-Face Diplomacy

Abstract This article argues that interpersonal commitment is statespersons’ most highly coveted aim, the greatest benefit that interpersonal relations can yield in diplomacy. Accordingly, statespersons employ a range of relational practices in encounters with counterparts, seeking to create and harness commitment that will advance professional aims. We argue that statespersons can follow one of two paths to generate commitment: (1) creating feelings of gratitude and providing help that makes a counterpart feel indebted; or (2) cultivating friendly relations. Both demand the successful implementation of relational practices. On the basis of thirty semistructured interviews with past and present senior Israeli statespersons and an analysis of fifteen autobiographies written by senior Israeli diplomats and political figures, we demonstrate to what extent statespersons acknowledge the importance of interpersonal commitment and its ramifications; identify the relational practices that statespersons employ to elicit commitment from a counterpart; and discuss the conditions that facilitate the emergence of such a commitment. We conclude by discussing the differences between thin and thick interpersonal commitments and underlining the importance of interpersonal relations in diplomacy.

A “Mean Quarrelsome Spirit:” Controversy in British Systematics, 1822–1836

British systematics was distinctly marked by a raft of vituperative controversies around the turn of the 1830s. After the local collapse of broad consensus in the Linnaean system by 1820, the emergence of new schemes of classification—most notably, the “quinarian” system of William Sharp Macleay—brought with it an unprecedented register of public debate among zoologists in Britain, one which a young Charles Darwin would bitterly describe to his friend John Stevens Henslow in October 1836 as possessing a “mean quarrelsome spirit,” conducted in “a manner anything but like that of gentlemen.” This article aims to provide a social and conceptual account of the remarkable tenor of zoological discourse in Britain in the late 1820s and early 1830s, with joint attention to the philosophical and interpersonal commitments at play. In doing so, it analyzes the three of the period’s most striking public controversies, each of which counted key advocates of the quinarian system as central participants.

The Collaborative Nature of Testimonial Learning.

Children's testimonial learning often occurs in epistemic collaborations with others. In this paper, we will discuss ways in which cultural learning emerges in social and interpersonal contexts, and is intrinsically supported and guided by children's collaborative capacities. Much work in cultural learning has focused on children's examination of speaker and model characteristics, but more recent research has investigated the interactive aspects of testimonial exchanges. We will review evidence that children (1) participate in the interpersonal commitments that are shared in testimonial transactions by way of direct address and epistemic buck passing, (2) participate in social groups that affect their selective learning in nuanced ways, and (3) may detect epistemic harms by listeners who refuse to believe sincere and accurate speakers. Implications for conceptualizing children's testimonial learning as an interactive mechanism of collaboration will be discussed.

Breaking the right way: a closer look at how we dissolve commitments

Joint action enables us to achieve our goals more efficiently than we otherwise could, and in many cases to achieve goals that we could not otherwise achieve at all. It also presents us with the challenge of determining when and to what extent we should rely on others to make their contributions. Interpersonal commitments can help with this challenge – namely by reducing uncertainty about our own and our partner’s future actions, particularly when tempting alternative options are available to one or more parties. How we know whether a commitment is in place need not, however, be based on an explicit, identifiable event; in many cases, joint action is stabilized by individuals’ experience of an implicit sense of commitment, which is sensitive to subtle situational cues such as the effort costs invested by one or more agents. While an emerging body of work has investigated the conditions under which a sense of commitment may emerge and/or be strengthened, little attention has been paid to the conditions under which people are comfortable dissolving commitments. Specifically, what are the factors that modulate people’s motivation and which determine whether circumstances merit the dissolution of a commitment? After evaluating and rejecting the answers to this question suggested by standard approaches to commitment, we develop a new approach. The core insight which we articulate and defend is that, when considering whether new information or changing circumstances merit the dissolution of a commitment, people virtually bargain with their partners, performing a simulation of a bargaining process with the other person, including imagining how the other will feel and act towards them, and what effect this will have on them. The output of this simulation is a consciously accessible, affective state which provides motivation either to dissolve the commitment or to persist in it. Overall, our account expands our understanding of the phenomenology of being motivated to act committed in joint activity, an area in which existing accounts of interpersonal commitment fall short.

All in the (Definition of) Family: Transnational Parent-Child Relationships, Rights to Family Life, and Canadian Immigration Law.

International human rights conventions, Canadian law and academic research all support the right to family life. Internationally and domestically, multiple definitions of family are recognized, acknowledging that long-term interpersonal commitments can be based on biological relationships as well as co-residential, legal, and emotional ties. Yet, the Canadian immigration system's limited and exclusionary understanding of parent-child relationships complicates migrant family reunification. Drawing on qualitative interview and survey data from separated families and key informants who support them, we analyze national status and class assumptions embedded in Canadian immigration standards. We argue that Canadian immigration policies disproportionately deny the right to family life to transnational Canadians and their children who hail from the Global South and/or who are socio-economically disadvantaged. Immigration policies neither recognize the globally accepted "best interests of the child" welfare standard nor the human right to family life. We offer suggestions for addressing these inequities in practice and policy.

Top-down causation in psychiatric disorders: a clinical-philosophical inquiry.

Psychiatry has long debated whether the causes of mental illness can be better explained by reductionist or pluralistic accounts. Although the former relies on commonsense scientific bottom-up causal models, the latter (which typically include environmental, psychological, and/or socio-cultural risk factors) requires top-down causal processes often viewed with skepticism, especially by neuroscientists. We begin with four clinical vignettes which illustrate self-interventions wherein high-order psychological processes (e.g. religious beliefs or deep interpersonal commitments) appear to causally impact the risk for or the course of psychiatric/behavioral disorders. We then propose a model for how to understand this sort of top-down self-causation. Our model relies centrally on the concept of a control variable which, like a radio tuning dial, can implement a series of typically unknown physical processes to obtain the desired ends. We set this control variable in the context of an interventionist account of causation that assumes that a cause (C) produces an effect (E) when intervening on C (by manipulating it) is associated with a change in E. We extend this framework by arguing that certain psychological changes can result from individuals intervening on their own mental states and/or selection of environments. This in turn requires a conception of the self that contains mental capacities that are at least partially independent of one another. Although human beings cannot directly intervene on the neurobiological systems which instantiate risk for psychiatric illness, they can, via control variables at the psychological level, and/or by self-selection into protective environments, substantially alter their own risk.

Retraction and testimonial justification: a new problem for the assurance view

The Assurance View, as advanced by Angus Ross and Richard Moran, makes the epistemology of testimony a matter of interpersonal commitments and entitlements. More specifically, I argue, their position is best understood as claiming that for someone’s belief to be testimonially justified is for some speaker to bear illocutionary responsibility for its truth (while background conditions are met). With this understanding in hand, I present a problem for the view that has so far escaped attention, a problem deriving from the wide freedom we have to retract our assertions. Retraction dissolves the illocutionary responsibilities that were set up by preceding speech acts; but in some circumstances the epistemic significance of a retraction is effectively nil. We can therefore construct cases in which the responsibilities undertaken in testimony have been canceled, while the justification for belief based on it remains in place—and that shouldn’t be possible, if the Assurance View has things right. I present one such case and press its implications.

Staying true with the help of others: doxastic self-control through interpersonal commitment

I explore the possibility and rationality of interpersonal mechanisms of doxastic self-control, that is, ways in which individuals can make use of other people in order to get themselves to stick to their beliefs. I look, in particular, at two ways in which people can make interpersonal epistemic commitments, and thereby willingly undertake accountability to others, in order to get themselves to maintain their beliefs in the face of anticipated “epistemic temptations”. The first way is through the avowal of belief, and the second is through the establishment of collective belief. I argue that both of these forms of interpersonal epistemic commitment can function as effective tools for doxastic self-control, and, moreover, that the control they facilitate should not be dismissed as irrational from an epistemic perspective.

The Sense of Commitment in Individuals With Borderline Personality Traits in a Non-clinical Population.

This is the first study to test the hypothesis that individuals' sense of commitment in joint activities and relationships may be influenced by personality traits characteristic of borderline personality disorder (BPD). This study consisted of 3 online experiments implemented via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants were presented with videos (Experiment 1) or vignettes (Experiments 2, 3) describing situations in which everyday commitments were violated. Participants then reported their perceptions, interpretations, and affective and behavioral responses to those situations. Participants' BPD traits (BPDt) were assessed using the short form of the Five-Factor Borderline Inventory on the basis of which they were divided into two groups: High and Low BPDt. The results revealed that participants with High BPD traits were less optimistic about others acting in accordance with an implicit sense of commitment (Experiment 1), although there was no difference between groups when the commitment was explicitly stated (Experiment 3). Participants in the High BPDt group also reported heightened emotional responses (Experiments 1–3) and less adaptive behavioral responses (Experiments 1, 3) to perceived or anticipated violations of commitment. Our findings suggest that high levels of BPD traits may give rise to a difficulty in adapting one's social expectations and behavior in light of interpersonal commitments and in a manner that is calibrated to the social norms in the community. Future research should investigate to what extent a disturbed sense of commitment may contribute to the difficulties in interpersonal functioning experienced by many individuals with a clinical diagnosis of BPD.

The role of identity commitments in depressive symptoms and stressful life events in adolescence and young adulthood.

The formation of a stable identity, consisting of a strong set of commitments, is a key developmental task in adolescence and young adulthood. Not resolving this task and lacking strong identity commitments is related to difficulties like depressive symptoms and stressful life events. However, the exact role of identity commitments in these negative experiences has remained unclear. In two longitudinal studies in the Netherlands spanning 8 and 6 years, respectively, we examined the associations between career and interpersonal commitments, depressive symptoms, and the number of experienced stressful life events over time. Study 1 included 683 adolescents (11 to 15 years at T1) and 268 adolescents and young adults (16 to 20 years at T1). Study 2 included 960 adolescents (12 to 17 years at T1) and 944 young adults (18 to 24 years at T1). Both studies indicated that stronger identity commitments predicted relative decreases in negative experiences. In Study 2, stronger interpersonal commitments predicted relative decreases in depressive symptoms. In both studies, stronger career commitments predicted a relative decrease in stressful life events. Furthermore, only career commitments weakened after negative experiences. Interpersonal commitments did not weaken after negative experiences, possibly because of the importance of interpersonal relationships during difficult times. Moreover, identity commitments did not buffer the effect of stressful life events on depressive symptoms in either study. These findings underscore the importance of identity commitments in adolescence and young adulthood, but provide crucial nuances regarding their role in different life domains. (PsycINFO Database Record

Love drugs: Why scientists should study the effects of pharmaceuticals on human romantic relationships

There is ongoing disagreement about the moral implications of developing and/or using neurotechnologies that would affect romantic love and relationships. In this paper, we argue that scientists should actively pursue a research program into such technology. Our call for research is based in part on the fact that a number of pharmaceuticals already in use are very likely to have ramifications for our relationships (romantic and otherwise), and we suggest that we should attempt to understand the effects of these drugs on our interpersonal commitments. In a similar vein, we argue for a shift in scientific research norms, according to which the study of relationships and other social factors would be given higher priority than they currently are given. Finally, in an Appendix, we discuss our use of the term “love drug,” and consider whether it is appropriate in light of debates about neuroreductionism.

Interactional Communication Challenges in End-of-Life Care: Dialectical Tensions and Management Strategies Experienced by Home Hospice Nurses

This study examines the dialectical tensions experienced by home hospice nurses in interactions with patients, families, and health care providers. In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 24 home hospice nurses from a mid-size for-profit hospice organization serving approximately 230 patients on an annual basis. Interviews revealed hospice nurses experience both interpersonal and organizational dialectics during hospice interactions: authoritative–nonauthoritative, revelation–concealment, independence–collaboration, and quality of care–business of care. Dialectics often resulted as a by-product of (a) responding to expectations and care choices of patients and families particular to the emotionally charged home context, (b) obtaining authorization from health care providers who are not members of the interdisciplinary team, and (c) pressures associated with providing quality patient care while fulfilling organizational role requirements. The praxis strategies used to negotiate tensions included segmentation, balance, recalibration, and spiraling inversion. Specifically, nurses employed strategies such as ascertaining family/patient acceptance, using persuasive tactics when communicating with external health care providers, relying on effective time management, and working off the clock to provide more in-person care. Although functional for patients and hospice organizations, nurses who continually rely on these strategies may experience job stress when their interpersonal commitments repeatedly conflict with organizational role demands.

Investigating the Biasing Effect of Identity in Self-Reports of Socially Desirable Behavior

This article applies Stryker's identity theory ([1980] 2003) to the survey interview to examine the bias in self-reports of socially desirable behavior, using religious service attendance as an example case. An extended model, one that includes a novel intrapersonal level of commitment as an influence on identity importance, which, along with intensive and extensive interpersonal commitments, is posited to influence identity salience. The model is fitted to data from the 1998 General Social Survey (Davis and Smith). Findings suggest that the survey interview may be viewed by the respondent as an opportunity to exhibit a socially desirable identity by claiming more frequent or more recent behavior, regardless of the level of inter- or intrapersonal commitments. A path for this systematic error is discussed through the respondent's level of identity importance. Venues for future work are addressed.

Why American Families Need the Census

This article examines how family researchers use federal statistics, particularly from the U.S. Census, to understand the realities of trends concerning the family unit. The article shows that these data have helped researchers to understand the major, largely irreversible revolution that has taken place in America in the ways that people engage in family formation, make interpersonal commitments, and take on caregiving obligations. In addition, the article makes clear the importance of understanding these changes to make and evaluate policy, such as governmental efforts to promote marriage. The article also shows the usefulness of federal data in allowing researchers to track the development of a new stage of life, termed by some the “age of independence” or “emerging adulthood,” and points to the need to keep fine-tuning, rethinking, and updating the categories that are being measured.

Robert Brandom on Communication, Reference, and Objectivity

The two main challenges of the theory of conceptual content presented by Robert Brandom in Making It Explicit are to account for a referential dimension of conceptual content and to account for the objectivity of conceptual norms. Brandom tries to meet both these challenges in chapter 8 of his book. I argue that the accounts presented there can only be understood if seen against the background of Brandom’s theory of communication developed in chapter 7. This theory is motivated by the well‐known problem that semantic holism threatens the possibility of communication because it has the consequence that words mean different things in different mouths. Brandom offers a solution to this problem in terms of what he calls recurrence commitments. I show that chapter 8 of Making It Explicit should be understood as arguing that a practice that includes acknowledging interpersonal recurrence commitments institutes both conceptual contents with a referential dimension and objective conceptual norms. I close by raising the objection that Brandom’s argument can only show that conceptual norms are communally shared and not that they are objective. I propose an emendation of this argument, having recourse to a practice Brandom refers to as rational rectification in his new book Between Saying and Doing.

Significant Others: Interpersonal and Professional Commitments in Anthropology. Richard Handler

<i>Significant Others: Interpersonal and Professional Commitments in Anthropology</i>. Richard Handler

Significant Others: Interpersonal and Professional Commitments in Anthropology

Significant Others: Interpersonal and Professional Commitments in Anthropology

Shanghai cosmopolitan: class, gender and cultural citizenship in Weihui's Shanghai Babe

In Weihui's banned novel, Shanghai Babe (1999), the social effects of globalization can be seen in changing ethical discourses concerning what it is to be a responsible citizen, friend or lover. Beginning with a discussion of cosmopolitanism and cultural citizenship, this paper explores how class inequalities and gender hierarchies undercut these ideals. For while the novel celebrates cosmopolitan choice and cultural empowerment, its plot also foregrounds the fragility of interpersonal commitments in the face of market capitalism's promotion of both a culture of immediate pleasure and an elite culture based on deferred gratification. Similarly, the novel celebrates sexual freedom, but its graphic accounts of the protagonist's sado-masochistic affair with a married German businessman may leave readers wary of the dangers of transgressing conventional norms.

Tensions Between Career and Interpersonal Commitments as a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease Among Women

For professional women, the tension between the career world and the world of interpersonal commitments to spouses, children and friends is thought to be particularly stressful, and a potential risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The Career-Life Balance Inventory (CLBI) was created to survey a wide variety of these tensions among a group of 202 professional women. In a discriminant analysis, two scales from the CLBI (Career-Sacrifices and Interpersonal Sacrifices) appeared to play an important role in distinguishing those women experiencing serious cardiovascular disease. This model for the discrimination of cardiovascular disease was significant to the .01 level. This result suggests the need for more refined study of the tensions between career and interpersonal commitments, as these may relate to risk for cardiovascular disease.

Intention is choice with commitment

This paper explores principles governing the rational balance among an agent's beliefs, goals, actions, and intentions. Such principles provide specifications for artificial agents, and approximate a theory of human action (as philosophers use the term). By making explicit the conditions under which an agent can drop his goals, i.e., by specifying how the agent is committed to his goals, the formalism captures a number of important properties of intention. Specifically, the formalism provides analyses for Bratman's three characteristic functional roles played by intentions [7, 9], and shows how agents can avoid intending all the foreseen side-effects of what they actually intend. Finally, the analysis shows how intentions can be adopted relative to a background of relevant beliefs and other intentions or goals. By relativizing one agent's intentions in terms of beliefs about another agent's intentions (or beliefs), we derive a preliminary account of interpersonal commitments.