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HandWiki. Reactance (Psychology). Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/36227 (accessed on 26 September 2026).
HandWiki. Reactance (Psychology). Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/36227. Accessed September 26, 2026.
HandWiki. "Reactance (Psychology)" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/36227 (accessed September 26, 2026).
HandWiki. (2022, November 24). Reactance (Psychology). In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/36227
HandWiki. "Reactance (Psychology)." Encyclopedia. Web. 24 November, 2022.
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Reactance is an unpleasant motivational arousal (reaction) to offers, persons, rules, or regulations that threaten or eliminate specific behavioral freedoms. Reactance occurs when a person feels that someone or something is taking away their choices or limiting the range of alternatives. Reactance can occur when someone is heavily pressured to accept a certain view or attitude. Reactance can cause the person to adopt or strengthen a view or attitude that is contrary to what was intended, and also increases resistance to persuasion. People using reverse psychology are playing on reactance, attempting to influence someone to choose the opposite of what they request. Some individuals are naturally high in reactance, a personality characteristic called trait reactance.
persuasion
personality
attitude
References
- Steindl, Christina; Jonas, Eva; Sittenthaler, Sandra; Traut-Mattausch, Eva; Greenberg, Jeff (2015). "Understanding Psychological Reactance". Zeitschrift für Psychologie 223 (4): 205–214. doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000222. PMID 27453805. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=4675534
- Brehm, J. W. (1966). A theory of psychological reactance. Academic Press.
- Brehm, S. S., & Brehm, J. W. (1981). Psychological Reactance: A Theory of Freedom and Control. Academic Press.
- Miller, W. R. (2000) Motivational Enhancement Therapy: Description of Counseling Approach. in Boren, J. J. Onken, L. S., & Carroll, K. M. (Eds.) Approaches to Drug Abuse Counseling, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2000, pp. 89–93. http://www.og-psykologen.dk/Litteratur-misbrug/Amerikansk-oversigt-raadgivningsmodeller-misbrug-NIDA.pdf#page=97
- Miller, W.R. & Rollnick, S. Motivational Interviewing: Preparing People to Change Addictive Behavior. NY: Guilford Press, 1991.
- Brehm, Sharon S. (1981). "Psychological reactance and the attractiveness of unobtainable objects: Sex differences in children's responses to an elimination of freedom". Sex Roles 7 (9): 937–949. doi:10.1007/BF00290976. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2FBF00290976
- Silvia, Paul J. (2005). "Deflecting Reactance: The Role of Similarity in Increasing Compliance and Reducing Resistance". Basic and Applied Social Psychology 27 (3): 277–284. doi:10.1207/s15324834basp2703_9. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238700461.
- Miller, Claude H.; Burgoon, Michael; Grandpre, Joseph R.; Alvaro, Eusebio M. (2006). "Identifying Principal Risk Factors for the Initiation of Adolescent Smoking Behaviors: The Significance of Psychological Reactance". Health Communication 19 (3): 241–252. doi:10.1207/s15327027hc1903_6. PMID 16719727. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7062389.
- Dahlgren, Peter M. (2021). "Forced vs. Selective Exposure: Threatening Messages Lead to Anger but Not Dislike of Political Opponents". Journal of Media Psychology. doi:10.1027/1864-1105/a000302. https://dx.doi.org/10.1027%2F1864-1105%2Fa000302
- Dillard, James Price; Shen, Lijiang (2005). "On the Nature of Reactance and its Role in Persuasive Health Communication". Communication Monographs 72 (2): 144–168. doi:10.1080/03637750500111815. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233132688.
- Miller, Claude H.; Lane, Lindsay T.; Deatrick, Leslie M.; Young, Alice M.; Potts, Kimberly A. (2007). "Psychological Reactance and Promotional Health Messages: The Effects of Controlling Language, Lexical Concreteness, and the Restoration of Freedom". Human Communication Research 33 (2): 219–240. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2007.00297.x. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1468-2958.2007.00297.x
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