Commitment

Stryker and Serpe, 1982
The degree to which the person's relationships to specified sets of others depend on his or her being a particular kind of person, i.e., occupying a particular position in an organized structure of relationships and playing a particular role. . . . [The concept of commitment] provides a useful way of conceiving "society's" relevance for social behavior, doing so by pointing to social networks-the number of others to whom one relates by occupancy of a given position, the importance to one of those others, the multiplexity of linkages, and so on-as the relevant considerations.

Stryker, Sheldon, and Richard T. Serpe. "Commitment, identity salience, and role behavior: Theory and research example." Personality, roles, and social behavior 119 1982:207.

Burke and Reitzes, 1991
The sum of the forces that maintain congruity between one's identity and the implications for one's identity of the interactions and behaviors in the interactive setting.

Burke, Peter J., and Donald C. Reitzes. "An identity theory approach to commitment." Social Psychology Quarterly 1991:244