Reactance Theory - 40 Years Later

Abstract: In this paper we review the basic assumptions formulated by Jack Brehm in 1966 in his theory of psychological reactance and we sample some interesting directions of research on reactance that have been carried out by social psychologists during the last 40 years. We conclude that although there has been impressive development in the reactance research, more exciting avenues of investigation lie ahead. Throughout the paper we outline some of these future directions.

[1]  J. Brehm,et al.  Psychological Reactance: A Theory of Freedom and Control , 1981 .

[2]  M. Lepper,et al.  Rethinking the value of choice: a cultural perspective on intrinsic motivation. , 1999, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[3]  Lloyd K. Stires,et al.  The attractiveness of an eliminated choice alternative , 1966 .

[4]  M. Heilman.  Oppositional behavior as a function of influence attempt intensity and retaliation threat. , 1976 .

[5]  J. Brehm,et al.  Energization and goal attractiveness. , 1989 .

[6]  T. Edward Hannah,et al.  Arousal of Psychological Reactance as a Consequence of Predicting an Individual's Behaviour , 1975 .

[7]  M. Mikulincer.  The relationship of probability of success and performance following unsolvable problems: Reactance and helplessness effects , 1988 .

[8]  M. Pallak,et al.  Interactive Effects of Commitment to Future Interaction and Threat to Attitudinal Freedom. , 1971 .

[9]  G. Grabitz-Gniech.  Some Restrictive Conditions for the Occurrence of Psychological Reactance. , 1971 .

[10]  S. Wise,et al.  The Therapeutic Reactance Scale: A Measure of Psychological Reactance , 1991 .

[11]  Linda Silka,et al.  Perceived difficulty, energization, and the magnitude of goal valence ☆ , 1983 .

[12]  A. M. Barclay.  Information as a defensive control of sexual arousal. , 1971, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[13]  J. Brehm.  A theory of psychological reactance. , 1981 .

[14]  D. Linder,et al.  Reactance theory analysis of predecisional cognitive processes. , 1970 .

[15]  Paul J. Silvia,et al.  Reactance and the dynamics of disagreement: multiple paths from threatened freedom to resistance to persuasion , 2006 .

[16]  L. Thompson,et al.  Battle of the sexes: gender stereotype confirmation and reactance in negotiations. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[17]  Jeff L Greenberg,et al.  Motivational Analyses of Social Behavior : Building on Jack Brehm's Contributions to Psychology , 2004 .

[18]  Madeline E. Heilman,et al.  Reacting to reactance: An Interpersonal interpretation of the need for freedom , 1976 .

[19]  S. Worchel.  The effect of three types of arbitrary thwarting on the instigation to aggression. , 1974, Journal of personality.

[20]  L. Festinger,et al.  A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance , 2017 .

[21]  R. Baumeister,et al.  A review of paradoxical performance effects: Choking under pressure in sports and mental tests , 1986 .

[22]  J. Brehm,et al.  Responses to Uncontrollable Outcomes: An Integration of Reactance Theory and the Learned Helplessness Model1 , 1975 .

[23]  G. Youngs,et al.  Psychological Reactance as a Factor in Patient Noncompliance With Medication Taking: A Field Experiment1 , 2000 .

[24]  N. Ellemers,et al.  The Impact of Respect Versus Neglect of Self-Identities on Identification and Group Loyalty , 2002 .

[25]  J. Brehm,et al.  Avoidant control difficulty and aversive incentive appraisals: Additional evidence of an energization effect , 1990 .

[26]  M. Rohrbaugh,et al.  Compliance, defiance, and therapeutic paradox: guidelines for strategic use of paradoxical interventions. , 1981, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[27]  B. Skinner,et al.  Principles of Behavior , 1944 .

[28]  S. Worchel,et al.  Implied threat to behavioral freedom. , 1974 .

[29]  L. Festinger.  Conflict, Decision, and Dissonance , 1964 .

[30]  R. Wright,et al.  Motivation, anxiety, and the difficulty of avoidant control. , 1984, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[31]  V. Shoham-Salomon,et al.  You're changed if you do and changed if you don't: Mechanisms underlying paradoxical interventions. , 1989 .

[32]  K. Lewin.  Field Theory and Experiment in Social Psychology: Concepts and Methods , 1939, American Journal of Sociology.

[33]  J. Brehm,et al.  Explorations in Cognitive Dissonance , 1962 .

[34]  H. Markus,et al.  Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. , 1991 .

[35]  Stephen Worchel,et al.  Direct and Implied Social Restoration of Freedom. , 1971 .

[36]  M. Goodstadt.  Helping and refusal to help: A test of balance and reactance theories , 1971 .

[37]  M. Lepper,et al.  When choice is demotivating: Can one desire too much of a good thing? , 2000 .

[38]  E. S. Knowles,et al.  Resistance and Persuasion , 2004 .

[39]  Naomi Ellemers,et al.  The context and content of social identity threat , 1999 .

[40]  S. Worchel.  The Diamond in the Stone: Exploring the Place of Free Behavior in Studies of Human Rights and Culture. , 2004 .

[41]  Steven J. Sherman,et al.  Reactance, Compliance, and Anticipated Regret ☆ , 2002 .

[42]  Patricia G. Devine,et al.  Attitude importance and resistance to persuasion : It's not just the thought that counts , 1996 .

[43]  D. Price,et al.  A quantitative-experiential analysis of human emotions , 1985 .

[44]  H. Eysenck.  Deterrents and reinforcement: Douglas H. Lawrence and Leon Festinger: Tavistock Publications, London, 1962. pp. 180, 32s , 1963 .

[45]  Phyllis A. Anastasio,et al.  The Common Ingroup Identity Model: Recategorization and the Reduction of Intergroup Bias , 1993 .

[46]  Shirley Feldman-Summers,et al.  Implications of the buck‐passing phenomenon for reactance theory , 1977 .

[47]  R. Wright.  Attitude change as a function of threat to attitudinal freedom and extent of agreement with a communicator , 1986 .

[48]  J. Brehm,et al.  The intensity of motivation. , 1989, Annual review of psychology.

[49]  A. Baum,et al.  Unemployment stress: loss of control, reactance and learned helplessness. , 1986, Social science & medicine.

[50]  Sung-Mook Hong,et al.  A Psychological Reactance Scale: Development, Factor Structure and Reliability , 1989 .

[51]  J. Brehm,et al.  Control, Its Loss, and Psychological Reactance , 1993 .

[52]  J. Brehm,et al.  Social influence as a function of attempted and implied usurpation of choice. , 1966 .

[53]  Leigh Thompson,et al.  Stereotype Reactance at the Bargaining Table: The Effect of Stereotype Activation and Power on Claiming and Creating Value , 2004, Personality & social psychology bulletin.