Further Reading: Chapter 26 — Reaching Agreement: From Confrontation to Collaboration

The following twelve sources extend the chapter's coverage of agreement-making, commitment design, implementation intentions, and the psychology of behavior change in interpersonal contexts. Annotations indicate focus, level, and relevance to chapter content.

Core Texts on Agreement and Commitment

1. Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119.

The definitive meta-analytic review of implementation intention research, covering 94 independent studies. Gollwitzer and Sheeran document the size, robustness, and mechanism of the effect (d = 0.65) and identify the boundary conditions under which it is stronger or weaker. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the research foundation behind the when-then commitment design advocated in this chapter. Technically dense but clearly written; graduate-level.

2. Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54(7), 493–503.

The most accessible overview of Gollwitzer's implementation intention research, published in the flagship journal of the American Psychological Association. Suitable for undergraduate readers, this article explains the theoretical framework, describes the key experimental findings, and discusses applications to health and social behavior. A natural starting point for readers unfamiliar with the research before approaching the meta-analysis.

3. Cialdini, R. B. (1984). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Harper Business.

Cialdini's examination of the psychology of compliance includes a chapter on commitment and consistency that provides the theoretical foundation for the "public commitment effect" discussed in this chapter. His analysis of why public commitments are more durable than private ones, and of the self-perception mechanisms that sustain commitment over time, is clearly written and extensively documented. Accessible to all readers; widely used in both academic and practitioner contexts.

4. Oettingen, G. (2014). Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation. Current.

Gabriele Oettingen's research on mental contrasting — pairing positive visualization of goal achievement with realistic acknowledgment of obstacles — provides an important complement to implementation intention theory. Her WOOP framework (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan) integrates mental contrasting with implementation intentions and has been shown to improve follow-through across a range of behavioral domains. Especially relevant for Section 26.4's discussion of designing commitments that account for obstacles. Accessible and research-grounded; suitable for undergraduate readers.

5. Stone, D., Patton, B., & Heen, S. (1999). Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most. Viking.

While the entire book is relevant to this course, Chapter 10 (From Difficult Conversations to Learning Conversations) is particularly relevant to Chapter 26. Stone, Patton, and Heen address what productive closure looks like after a genuine exchange — how to move from understanding to specific next steps while preserving the relational gains of the conversation. Their treatment of "problem-solving conversation" as the final phase of a difficult conversation complements the clarify-confirm-commit sequence directly.

Research Articles on Commitment and Follow-Through

6. Sheeran, P., & Orbell, S. (2000). Using implementation intentions to increase attendance for cervical cancer screening. Health Psychology, 19(3), 283–289.

One of the most influential applications of implementation intention research to a high-stakes health behavior. Sheeran and Orbell found that women who formed implementation intentions about when and where they would get a cervical smear were nearly three times more likely to follow through than those who formed only general intentions. The effect held even after controlling for intention strength. Accessible for undergraduate readers; provides a concrete example of the effect size in a real-world setting.

7. Nickerson, D. W., & Rogers, T. (2010). Do you have a voting plan? Implementation intentions, voter turnout, and organic plan making. Psychological Science, 21(2), 194–199.

A field experiment demonstrating that a single question — "Do you have a plan for how you'll vote?" — significantly increased voter turnout by prompting implementation intention formation. The finding has broad implications for commitment design: simply asking people to specify when and where they'll perform a behavior is a low-cost intervention with measurable effects. Relevant to the chapter's argument that asking for implementation intentions at the close of a conflict conversation is both appropriate and effective.

8. Leventhal, H., Zimmerman, R., & Gutmann, M. (1984). Compliance: A self-regulation perspective. In D. Gentry (Ed.), Handbook of Behavioral Medicine. Guilford.

A rigorous treatment of the compliance-commitment distinction from a self-regulation perspective. Leventhal and colleagues examine why people follow through on health-related commitments and what distinguishes sustained compliance from temporary behavioral change. Although the medical context is specific, the psychological mechanisms they identify — role of understanding the "why," role of self-efficacy, role of planned response to obstacles — translate directly to conflict resolution agreements.

Practitioner Resources on Closing Conversations

9. Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2002). Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. McGraw-Hill.

Chapter 9 ("Move to Action: How to Turn Crucial Conversations into Action and Results") addresses the challenge this chapter focuses on: closing productive conversations with specific, accountable next steps. Patterson and colleagues identify four elements of strong action commitments — who, does what, by when, how will you follow up — that map closely onto the clarify-confirm-commit sequence. A practical, readable resource for all skill levels.

10. Ury, W. (1991). Getting Past No: Negotiating in Difficult Situations. Bantam Books.

Ury's treatment of "building a golden bridge" — making it as easy as possible for the other party to say yes and commit genuinely — is directly relevant to the chapter's concern with buy-in vs. compliance. His analysis of why surface compliance is fragile and what distinguishes it from genuine commitment provides useful theoretical grounding for the practical tools this chapter describes. Accessible; practitioner-oriented.

11. Lax, D. A., & Sebenius, J. K. (1986). The Manager as Negotiator: Bargaining for Cooperation and Competitive Gain. Free Press.

Lax and Sebenius introduced the concept of "closing" as a distinct negotiation skill — the set of techniques for converting a productive negotiation into a durable agreement. Their treatment of implementation (what happens after the agreement is reached) is unusually thorough for the negotiation literature and addresses version drift, monitoring, and renegotiation in ways that complement this chapter's section on documentation and accountability. More advanced than other texts on this list; suitable for readers with professional negotiation contexts.

12. Rogers, T., Milkman, K. L., John, L. K., & Norton, M. I. (2015). Beyond good intentions: Prompting people to make plans improves follow-through on important tasks. Behavioral Science and Policy, 1(2), 33–41.

A synthesis of field research on plan-making interventions across multiple behavioral domains — health, civic participation, consumer decisions. Rogers and colleagues find that simple prompts to form specific plans consistently improve follow-through, even in large-scale field settings where motivational interventions alone have failed. The article's policy focus translates directly to the design of conflict resolution agreements: the practical lesson is that prompting for specificity ("when exactly, where exactly, what will you do") is an underused but highly effective closing tool.

Chapter 26 | Further Reading | 12 annotated sources