Following in the wake of its social science siblings, international law scholarship is experiencing a ‘behavioural turn’. One particularly fruitful area in which to explore the utility of behavioural insights is compliance. The contributions to the present symposium represent some of the first efforts to explore how psychological influences may shape the compliance decision-making process and to study the theoretical and practical advantages offered by pursuing a behavioural analysis of compliance. This essay addresses several cross-cutting issues of importance. First, it outlines the epistemological stance that is implicit in behavioural approaches to compliance. It draws a parallel with economic theory, suggesting that the persistent dominance of rational choice theory in that field belies a teleological difference between international law and economics. The essay then turns to suggest how psychological influences both interact with and build on the material and normative considerations that are posited in existing theories to determine actors’ compliance-related behaviour. It continues to address the limitations of adopting a behavioural approach to compliance, from both a methodological and normative point of view. The final section provides a brief introduction to the pieces included in this symposium and outlines avenues for future research.