Psychological reactance and persuasive healthcommunication. This book discusses a number of special topic areas to which the reactance theory seems especially relevant. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. Psychological reactance is defined as behavior by an individual in response to reduction or threatened reduction of freedom. The scales reliability was acceptable for registered. Ad intrusiveness and freedom threat to use facebook affect reactance positively. Venkatesan 1989, reactance theory in consumer research. Psychological reactance theory is a commonly relied upon framework for understanding audience members resistance to persuasive health messages. Brehm, 1966 posits that when something threatens or eliminates peoples freedom of behavior. The explanatory power of reactance journal of communication. Predictions are offered as to who will show which behavior pattern under which circumstances. The purpose of this study is to examine psychological reactance in response to graphic cigarette warning labels and to strengthen and expand on. Refinement of the hong psychological reactance scale sung. Avariety of studies have provided interesting new insights into the theory, adding to what is known about the phenomenon of reactance and the processes activated when people are confronted with threats to their freedom.
Reactance functions within a complicated web of social and psychological interaction. When people feel that their freedom to choose an action is threatened, they get an unpleasant feeling called reactance. Rains department of communication, university of arizona, tucson, az 857210025 psychological reactance brehm, 1966. Reactance is a psychological motive to reassert ones sense of freedom when freedom has been denied. Results consistently showed three problematic items, which led to.
Reactance theory is a standard psychological belief that we see today in countless ways. Prospect theory, discrete emotions, and freedom threats. Keep an eye out and youll see evidence of it in your everyday life. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Psychological reactance as omnipresent exploring the potential evolutionary origins of change resistance. The theory describing a motivational state consisting of distress, anxiety and desire to restore freedoms taken away when an individual responds to a perce. Since brehms first publication on reactance in 1966. Featured the impact of anthropomorphized cute brands on consumer preferences for distinctive and majorityendorsed products marina puzakova, lehigh university. Psychological reactance theory dr simon moss sicotests. The research investigated political and psychological reactance among adolescents. A theory of freedom and control provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of reactance theory. Jack williams brehm, a theory of psychological reactance philpapers only if the freedom threat affects aspects that are important to the self do people show reactance. Theory and applications, in na advances in consumer research volume 16, eds.
We present an overview of research that has been done since then. In a game that required cooperation, a subject actually a confederate of the experimenter passed one of two notes to the other subject. This chapter explores the psychological consequences associated with highcontrolling language, and discusses how reactance may also be affected by regulatory fit higgins 2000 associated with concrete vs abstract language. Brehm, 1966 posits that when something threatens or eliminates peoples freedom of behavior, they experience psychological reactance, a motivational state that drives freedom restoration. Psychological reactance theory was first proposed by the social psychologist jack brehm in 1966. Psychological reactance theory back in the 1960s, prt was developed to explain why forbidden fruits are often more attractive brehm, 1966. Reactance refers to a way in which a person thinks or behaves when perceiving a threat to his or her freedom.
According assimilating all of this research, we outline five to prt, freedom of behavior is an important. Two factors determining the reaction to restrictions are the absoluteness of a ppsychological and selfrelevance. Brehm free pdf d0wnl0ad, audio books, books to read, good books to read, cheap books, good books, online books, books online, book. The nature of psychological reactance revisited university of. Reactance theory is still considered to be one of the basic psychological theories. 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. One major contribution of this study is that this study extended the theory of psychological reactance by incorporating the notion of threats to identity based on the. Examining perceptions of threats to freedom and informational value louisa pavey. Reactance the motivation to regain a freedom after it has been lost or threatened leads people to resist the social influence of others. A theory of psychological reactance, 1966, jack williams.
Almost 60 years have passed since brehm presented a theory of psychological reactance as an answer to these questions. Understanding psychological reactance semantic scholar. We have analyzed the investigation about reactance theory since its proposition and we have identified that the theory is studied in different areas of knowledge, as psychology, consumer behavior and health studies. Political reactance is interpreted to include feelings of political alienation and distrust. Using psychological reactance theory, we examine why facebook users avoid ads. Aug 28, 2019 a theory of psychological reactance brehm pdf psychological reactance. Most importantly, it elaborates on the value of reactance by explaining how reactance connects to the. Since brehm first proposed reactance theory in 1966, many studies have explored the remarkable psychological phenomenon of reactance, which miron and. Data from 3,085 respondents from metropolitan sydney, australia were used to refine the 14item hong psychological reactance scale. The current virtual special issue builds off the work of tian and colleagues to reveal reactances explanatory power for the study of seemingly disparate communication phenomena.
Responses to the loss of freedom a theory of psychological reactance, jack williams brehm, 1972, choice psychology, 26 pages. Review article understanding psychological reactance. Users perception of autonomy to control ad exposure decreases ad intrusiveness. Brehm, 1966 posits that when something threatens or eliminates peoples freedom of behavior, they experience psychological reactance, a motivational state. The major concepts of the theory are discussed, as well as. Are graphic cigarette warning labels an effective message. We test a model that integrates antecedents and outcomes of reactance against ads. Psychological reactance theory offers valuable guidance, particularly when addressing sensitive, reactant populations. Research in social influence demonstrates that individuals often move in the direction demanded by a leader obedience or modeled by a majority conformity, and cognitive dissonance theory suggests that individuals will depreciate the items and activities that are denied them sour grapes.
Anger was measured using the same stem used to measure guilt and happiness with the following four response items, angry, irritated, annoyed, and aggravated. According to prt, prohibitions may elicit psychological reactance, that is, a motivational state hypothesized to occur when a freedom is eliminated or threatened with elimination bre. The effect of psychological reactance on acceptance of campaign. The narcissistic reactance theory of sexual coercion and rape explains how the personality of rapists intersects with situational factors to produce reactance. Brehm and sensenig reported a simple experiment that demonstrated psychological reactance. The article begins with an overview of psychological reactance theory. The current chapter summarizes psychological reactance theory brehm, 1966 which can explain why people sometimes fight back, meaning that they do the opposite of what they are supposed to do or resist the social influence of others.
1393 784 1218 1434 405 74 1326 918 584 1513 932 611 209 1248 912 897 981 353 287 1279 756 190 75 460 64 1269 1460 150 433 108 1048 561 1486 238 829 54 928 365 696 943 1051 766 654 773 751 1222 991 104 10 641 647