Reactance (psychology)

Psychological reactance is "an unpleasant motivational arousal that emerges when people experience a threat to or loss of their free behaviors." An individual's freedom to select when and how to conduct their behavior, and the level to which they are aware of the relevant freedom—and are able to determine behaviors necessary to satisfy that freedom—affect the generation of psychological reactance. It is assumed that if a person's behavioral freedom is threatened or reduced, they become motivationally aroused. The fear of loss of further freedoms can spark this arousal and motivate them to re-establish the threatened freedom. Because this motivational state is a result of the perceived reduction of one's freedom of action, it is considered a counterforce, and thus is called "psychological reactance". There are four important elements to reactance theory: perceived freedom, threat to freedom, reactance, and restoration of freedom. Freedom is not an abstract consideration, but rather a feeling associated with real behaviors, including actions, emotions, and attitudes. Reactance also explains denial as it is encountered in addiction counselling. According to William R. Miller, "Research demonstrates that a counselor can drive resistance (denial) levels up and down dramatically according to his or her personal counseling style". Use of a "respectful, reflective approach" described in motivational interviewing and applied as motivational enhancement therapy, rather than by argumentation, the accusation of "being in denial", and direct confrontations, lead to the motivation to change and avoid the resistance and denial, or reactance, elicited by strong direct confrontation. ==Theory==

The theory of psychological reactance specifies what is considered a freedom, how said freedom can be taken away or threatened, and how the psychological reactance will manifest itself. Reactance theory aims to understand motive behind behaviors when freedom is threatened or eliminated. In this theory, with the removal of freedom, an individual will attempt to restore said freedom. Reactance in this case is now the manifestation of the behaviors aimed to restore freedom. When the freedom is completely eliminated, reactance becomes maximal, as the lost freedom becomes more desirable. Reactance theory assumes there are "free behaviors" individuals perceive and can take part in at any given moment. For a behavior to be free, the individual must have the relevant physical and psychological abilities to partake in it, and must know they can engage in it at the moment, or in the near future. "Behavior" includes any imaginable act. More specifically, behaviors may be explained as "what one does (or doesn't do)", "how one does something", or "when one does something". It is not always clear, to an observer, or the individuals themselves, if they hold a particular freedom to engage in a given behavior. When a person has such a free behavior they are likely to experience reactance whenever that behavior is restricted, eliminated, or threatened with elimination. There are several rules associated with free behaviors and reactance: Other core concepts of the theory are justification and legitimacy. A possible effect of justification is a limitation of the threat to a specific behavior or set of behaviors. For example, if Mr. Doe states that he is interfering with Mrs. Smith's expectations because of an emergency, this keeps Mrs Smith from imagining that Mr. Doe will interfere on future occasions as well. Likewise, legitimacy may point to a set of behaviors threatened since there will be a general assumption that an illegitimate interference with a person's freedom is less likely to occur. With legitimacy there is an additional implication that a person's freedom is equivocal. ==Effects==

In the phenomenology of reactance, there is no assumption that a person will be aware of reactance. When persons become aware of reactance, they will feel a higher level of self-direction in relationship to their own behaviour. In other words, they will feel that if they are able to do what they want, then they do not have to do what they do not want. In this case, when the freedom is in question, that person alone is the director of their own behaviour. When considering the direct re-establishment of freedom, the greater the magnitude of reactance, the more the individual will try to re-establish the freedom that has been lost or threatened. When a freedom is threatened by a social pressure, then reactance will lead a person to resist that pressure. Also, when there are restraints against a direct re-establishment of freedom, there can be attempts at re-establishment by implication whenever possible. Freedom can and may be reestablished by a social implication. When an individual has lost free behavior because of a social threat, then the participation in a free-like behavior by a similar person will allow the individual to re-establish their freedom. Reactance is a motivational state that is aimed at re-establishment of a threatened or eliminated freedom. In short, the level of reactance has a direct relationship with the importance of the eliminated or threatened freedom, and the proportion of free behaviours eliminated or threatened. ==Empirical evidence==

A number of studies have looked at psychological reactance, providing empirical evidence for the behaviour; some key studies are discussed below. Brehm's 1981 study, "Psychological reactance and the attractiveness of unobtainable objects: sex differences in children's responses to an elimination of freedom", examined the differences in sex and age in a child's view of the attractiveness of obtained and unobtainable objects. The study reviewed how well children respond in these situations and determined if the children being observed thought the "grass was greener on the other side". It also determined how well the child made peace with the world if they devalued what they could not have. This work concluded that when a child cannot have what they want, they experience emotional consequences of not getting it. A number of studies have also looked into media use and reactance. For instance, an experiment that exposed participants to immigration messages that was threatening (for example via group stereotypes and uncivil language) resulted in very large reactance, in the form of anger and counterarguing. ==Measurement==

Dillard & Shen have provided evidence that psychological reactance can be measured, in contrast to the contrary opinion of Jack Brehm, who developed the theory. In their work they measured the impact of psychological reactance with two parallel studies: one advocating flossing and the other urging students to limit their alcohol intake. They formed several conclusions about reactance. Firstly reactance is mostly cognitive; this allows reactance to be measurable by self-report techniques. Also, in support of previous research, they conclude reactance is in part related to an anger response. This verifies Brehm's description that during the reactance experience one tends to have hostile or aggressive feelings, often aimed more at the source of a threatening message than at the message itself. Finally, within reactance, both cognition and affect are intertwined; Dillard and Shen suggest they are so intertwined that their effects on persuasion cannot be distinguished from each other. Dillard and Shen's research indicates reactance can effectively be studied using established self-report methods. Furthermore, it provided a better understanding of reactance theory and its relationship to persuasive health communication. Miller and colleagues conducted their 2007 study Psychological reactance and promotional health messages: the effects of controlling language, lexical concreteness, and the restoration of freedom at the University of Oklahoma, with the primary goal being to measure the effects of controlling language in promotional health messages. Their research revisited the notion of restoring freedom by examining the use of a short postscripted message tagged on the end of a promotional health appeal. The results of the study indicated that more concrete messages generate greater attention than less concrete (more abstract) messages. Also, the source of concrete messages can be seen as more credible than the source of abstract messages. They concluded that the use of more concrete, low-controlling language, and the restoration of freedom through the inclusion of a choice-emphasizing postscript, may offer the best solution to reducing ambiguity and reactance created by overtly persuasive health appeals. ==See also==