Psychological Reactance Research Articles

It's time we put agency into Behavioural Public Policy

Abstract Promoting agency – people's ability to form intentions and to act on them freely – must become a primary objective for Behavioural Public Policy (BPP). Contemporary BPPs do not directly pursue this objective, which is problematic for many reasons. From an ethical perspective, goals like personal autonomy and individual freedom cannot be realised without nurturing citizens’ agency. From an efficacy standpoint, BPPs that override agency – for example, by activating automatic psychological processes – leave citizens ‘in the dark’, incapable of internalising and owning the process of behaviour change. This may contribute to non-persistent treatment effects, compensatory negative spillovers or psychological reactance and backfiring effects. In this paper, we argue agency-enhancing BPPs can alleviate these ethical and efficacy limitations to longer-lasting and meaningful behaviour change. We set out philosophical arguments to help us understand and conceptualise agency. Then, we review three alternative agency-enhancing behavioural frameworks: (1) boosts to enhance people's competences to make better decisions; (2) debiasing to encourage people to reduce the tendency for automatic, impulsive responses; and (3) nudge+ to enable citizens to think alongside nudges and evaluate them transparently. Using a multi-dimensional framework, we highlight differences in their workings, which offer comparative insights and complementarities in their use. We discuss limitations of agency-enhancing BPPs and map out future research directions.

Islamization: A Sociological Approach

"Islamisation: A Sociological Approach" intricately explores the processes of cultivating an Islamic society. It delves into the interplay between individual and systemic transformations, aligning with Islamic doctrines. The meticulous examination includes integrating Islamic principles into societal frameworks, exploring social psychology, human soul cognition, schema control, behavioral modifications, community dynamics, and emotional management. The discourse spans foundational Islamisation aspects to constructing persuasive models, emphasizing the need for narratives resonating across the Islamic realm. The treatise addresses fostering uniformity in Islamic governance, focusing on human motivation, informational conformity, and aligning Islamic values with modern technologies. Contemplating the future trajectory, it juxtaposes scientific advancements with philosophical reflections, acknowledging challenges posed by conflicting secular liberal ideologies. The text highlights social media and educational initiatives' pivotal roles in nurturing close-knit Muslim community relationships. In conclusion, it underscores the necessity of managing cognitive schemas and mitigating extreme psychological reactance in Islamic societies, advocating for a harmonious blend of punitive measures and core Islamic values, contributing significantly to the discourse on contemporary Islamisation.

Who likely experiences reactance to quitting messages: How individual cultural identification moderates the effect of controlling language on psychological reactance

ObjectivePsychological reactance can undermine the persuasiveness of smoking campaigns, but this effect may vary as a function of culture. Previous research has been conducted at the national level or examined the influence of one cultural variable. This study investigated whether the boomerang effect of controlling language varied across countries and whether individualism and power distance moderated the relationship between controlling language and psychological reactance. MethodsA total of 400 Chinese and 441 American smokers were randomly assigned to either high or low controlling language. ResultsHigh controlling language elicited psychological reactance, which caused negative attitudes and eventually reduced intentions to quit smoking in both countries. Moreover, the effect of controlling language on reactance was stronger among low power distance Americans, Chinese of high individualism and high power distance as well as of low individualism and low power distance. ConclusionThe boomerang effect of controlling language held across cultures. Power distance moderated the relationship between controlling language and psychological reactance as well as the moderation effect of individualism on this relationship. Practice implicationsPractitioners should be cautious to evoke reactance especially when targeting at the three groups mentioned above.

Tipping the Scales of Psychological Reactance: A Closer Look at Imperative Language and the Role of Epistemic Certainty

Psychological reactance is a key construct in persuasion, but experimental inductions often confound imperative language with epistemically certain language (i.e., language that belies grounds for doubt). Two online experiments examine the effects of each language type on indicators of psychological reactance across two scientific contexts. In Study 1 ( N = 274), imperative language increased felt anger and perceived threat to freedom, while epistemically certain language did not. In Study 2 ( N = 402), epistemically uncertain language attenuated felt anger and perceived threat to freedom. Findings offer theoretical and practical insight into the effects of each language type on resistance to persuasion.

Exploring the role of child-friendly communities in alleviating the turbulence of psychological reactance among educationally disadvantaged youth

Psychological reactance (PR) is a dynamic personality trait that is closely intertwined with their quality of life (QoL). Identified as a risk group for PR, educationally disadvantaged children and youth face challenges in improving their QoL due to insufficient school resources and helpless parental households atmosphere. It is worthy to be seen whether child-friendly communities can offer a protective and supportive environment to mitigate these challenges, thereby complementing the deficits in school and family environments. This study aims to investigate the correlation between adolescent PR and their QoL across varying levels of community friendliness. Data were collected from 2,347 adolescents in Sanya City, Hainan Province, China, renowned as the pioneer location for implementing child-friendly policies. Using propensity score matching, we verified that adolescents’ PR is negatively correlated with their QoL levels. The moderating effect of child-friendly communities shows that the more supportive the communities are, the less significant the role of PR in decreasing their QoL. We underscore the significance role of community in addition to other environments with the focus of community education, entertainment and personal life, and emphasize the urgency of enhancing adolescents’ QoL, particularly among educationally disadvantaged youth.

Consumers’ Brand Experiences With Robotic Service Failures: Modeling Appraisal, Attribution, and Psychological Reactance

Due to the stretched capacities of human staff, consumers are increasingly placed in situations where they are “required” to use technology amidst their travel experiences, despite potential service failures in robotic technologies. Yet, research into how robotic service failures could potentially spill over to consumers’ brand experiences, robot experiences, and adoption intention remains unexplored. Drawing on appraisal, attribution, and psychological reactance theories, an interconnected research model of service failure, attribution, and (in)voluntary robot adoption was tested via two experiments. A mixed-design quasi-experiment (Study 1) found a significant interaction effect of service failure and attribution on brand experience in the hotel concierge context. Study 2 provided further evidence for the causal effects in Study 1 by employing a between-subject quasi-experiment in the hotel front desk context with additional measures. Collectively, this research contributes to the literature by highlighting how temporal, situational, and contextual factors in HRI may impact evaluations of brand and robot experiences.

The Impact of Recommendation System on User Satisfaction: A Moderated Mediation Approach

A recommendation system serves as a key factor for improving e-commerce users’ satisfaction by providing them with more accurate and diverse suggestions. A significant body of research has examined the accuracy and diversity of a variety of recommendation systems. However, little is known about the psychological mechanisms through which the recommendation system influences the user satisfaction. Thus, the purpose of this study is to contribute to this gap by examining the mediating and moderating processes underlying this relationship. Drawing from the traditional task-technology fit literature, the study developed a moderated mediation model, simultaneously considering the roles of a user’s feeling state and shopping goal. We adopted a scenario-based experimental approach to test three hypotheses contained in the model. The results showed that there is an interaction effect between shopping goals and types of recommendation (diversity and accuracy) on user satisfaction. Specifically, when a user’s shopping goal aligns with recommendation results in terms of accuracy and diversity, the user satisfaction is enhanced. Furthermore, this study evaluated the mediating role of feeling right and psychological reactance for a better understanding of this interactive relationship. We tested the moderated mediation effect of feeling right and the psychological reactance moderated by the user shopping goal. For goal-directed users, accurate recommendations trigger the activation of feeling right, consequently increasing the user satisfaction. Conversely, when exploratory users face accurate recommendations, they activate psychological reactance, which leads to a reduction in user satisfaction. Finally, we discuss the implications for the study of recommendation systems, and for how marketers/online retailers can implement them to improve online customers’ shopping experience.

Educational Autonomy and the Holocaust: A Comparative Study of Teachers’ Freedom in European Narratives

ABSTRACT While Holocaust memory underscores the significance of freedom, the actual enactment of freedom varies across different countries, posing a vital question for educating about the Holocaust. How do educators navigate this dissonance? Do they serve as conduits for government perspectives, or do they exercise their teacher autonomy? As part of a comparative study examining shifts in Holocaust memory in Europe from 2020 to 2022, my colleagues and I conducted in-depth interviews with 75 Holocaust educators from Poland, Hungary, Germany, and England, inviting them to share their life stories and professional experiences. This article delves into a recurring theme found within these educators’ narratives: the appreciation of freedom and choice. To interpret the significance of this theme, I integrate educational theories on ‘difficult history’ and teacher autonomy with theories of psychological reactance and the freedom quotient (FQ). I draw on Isaiah Berlin's concepts of negative and positive liberty to bridge the personal and societal dimensions. The resulting model provides a framework for the study's findings. As expected, teachers from Poland and Hungary felt their negative liberty was constrained, while those from Germany and England reported a greater degree of autonomy. More surprisingly, limited negative liberty led many interviewees from Poland and Hungary to find powerful ways to express their inner freedom. These included resistance to authority, activism within and beyond the classroom, and the application of diverse and creative pedagogical approaches in EaH. The interviews also pointed to a connection between higher levels of negative liberty in Germany and England, and a plurality of content and goals in EaH within these countries. In light of these findings, I offer policy and educational recommendations.

Intentional news avoidance on short-form video platforms: a moderated mediation model of psychological reactance and relative entertainment motivation

Previous studies have identified a correlation between individuals’ perception of news quality and their intention to avoid political news. However, limited research exists that examines the mechanisms that mediate or moderate this relationship, particularly in the context of short-form video platforms. This study, using a sample of 523 active users of Douyin, a Chinese short-form video platform, addresses this gap by examining the mediating influence of psychological reactance and the moderating impact of relative entertainment motivation on the connection between perceived news quality and intentional news avoidance. The study finds that the negative association between perceived news quality and intentional news avoidance is mediated by psychological reactance, while both the direct effect of perceived news quality on intentional news avoidance, and the indirect effect through psychological reactance, are moderated by relative entertainment motivation. Specifically, these effects are stronger for individuals with high relative entertainment motivation. These findings suggest that if users possess high relative entertainment motivation, their psychological reactance and intentional news avoidance can be reduced if the quality of news improves. This study contributes to current understanding of users’ deliberate avoidance of news and offers insights for owners and developers of short-form video platforms and algorithms.

The Effects of Language Features and Accents on the Arousal of Psychological Reactance and Communication Outcomes

Guided by psychological reactance theory, we examined the effects of language features on arousing reactance and communication outcomes. Results of a 2 (controllingness; high/low) × 2 (concreteness; concrete/abstract) × 2 (restoration postscript; present/absent) × 3 (accent; Standard American English [SAE]/Indian [non-SAE]/text-based message) between-subjects design ( N = 1,099, studies 1 and 2), revealed high-controlling language increased freedom threat, was perceived as more explicit than low-controlling language. Concrete language was perceived as more demanding of attention, fair, and producing lesser freedom threat than abstract language. Furthermore, restoration postscripts reduced freedom threat and message explicitness, including differences in restoration postscripts for the non-SAE relative to the SAE accent. Compared to the non-SAE accent, the SAE accent was perceived as more fluent and less difficult to understand, yet elicited more anger, more negative cognitions, and was perceived as less competent (Study 2). The implications are discussed vis-à-vis social influence and intergroup communication.

Psychological Reactance to Anti-Piracy Messages explained by Gender and Attitudes

Digital piracy is costly to creative economies across the world. Studies indicate that anti-piracy messages can cause people to pirate more rather than less, suggesting the presence of psychological reactance. A gender gap in piracy behavior and attitudes towards piracy has been reported in the literature. By contrast, gender differences in message reactance and the moderating impact of attitudes have not been explored. This paper uses evolutionary psychology as a theoretical framework to examine whether messages based on real-world anti-piracy campaigns cause reactance and whether this effect is explained by gender and pre-existing attitudes. An experiment compares one prosocial and two threatening messages against a control group to analyze changes in piracy intention from past behavior for digital TV/film. Results indicate that the prosocial message has no significant effect, whereas the threatening messages have significantly opposing effects on men and women. One threatening message influences women to reduce their piracy intentions by over 50% and men to increase it by 18%. We find that gender effects are moderated by pre-existing attitudes, as men and women who report the most favorable attitudes towards piracy tend to demonstrate the most polarized changes in piracy intentions. The practical implications of the results are that men and women process threatening messages differently, therefore behavioral change messages should be carefully targeted to each gender. Explicitly, threatening messages may be effective on women, but may have the reverse effect on men with strong favorable attitudes towards the target behavior.

Modelling social norms: an integration of the norm-utility approach with beliefs dynamics.

We review theoretical approaches for modelling the origin, persistence and change of social norms. The most comprehensive models describe the coevolution of behaviours, personal, descriptive and injunctive norms while considering influences of various authorities and accounting for cognitive processes and between-individual differences. Models show that social norms can improve individual and group well-being. Under some conditions though, deleterious norms can persist in the population through conformity, preference falsification and pluralistic ignorance. Polarization in behaviour and beliefs can be maintained, even when societal advantages of particular behaviours or belief systems over alternatives are clear. Attempts to change social norms can backfire through cognitive processes including cognitive dissonance and psychological reactance. Under some conditions social norms can change rapidly via tipping point dynamics. Norms can be highly susceptible to manipulation, and network structure influences their propagation. Future models should incorporate network structure more thoroughly, explicitly study online norms, consider cultural variations and be applied to real-world processes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Social norm change: drivers and consequences'.

Strong correlational but no causal evidence on the link between the perception of scientific consensus and support for vaccination.

We examine the relationships between the perception of the scientific consensus regarding vaccines, and vaccine attitudes and intentions (N total = 2,362) in the context of COVID-19 disease. Based on the correlational evidence found (Study 1), perceived scientific consensus and vaccine attitudes are closely related. This association was stronger among people who trust (vs. distrust) scientists; however, political ideology did not moderate these effects. The experimental evidence (Studies 2-3) indicates that consensus messaging influences the perception of consensus; nonetheless, the effects on vaccine attitudes or intentions were non-significant. Furthermore, message aiming at reducing psychological reactance was similarly ineffective in changing attitudes as traditional consensus message.

Can robot advisers encourage honesty?: Considering the impact of rule, identity, and role-based moral advice

A growing body of human–robot interaction literature is exploring whether and how social robots, by utilizing their physical presence or capacity for verbal and nonverbal behavior, can influence people’s moral behavior. In the current research, we aimed to examine to what extent a social robot can effectively encourage people to act honestly by offering them moral advice. The robot either offered no advice at all or proactively offered moral advice before participants made a choice between acting honestly and cheating, and the underlying ethical framework of the advice was grounded in either deontology (rule-focused), virtue ethics (identity-focused), or Confucian role ethics (role-focused). Across three studies (N=1,693), we did not find a robot’s moral advice to be effective in deterring cheating. These null results were held constant even when we introduced the robot as being equipped with moral capacity to foster common expectations about the robot among participants before receiving the advice from it. The current work led us to an unexpected discovery of the psychological reactance effect associated with participants’ perception of the robot’s moral capacity. Stronger perceptions of the robot’s moral capacity were linked to greater probabilities of cheating. These findings demonstrate how psychological reactance may impact human–robot interaction in moral domains and suggest potential strategies for framing a robot’s moral messages to avoid such reactance.

Influences of parenting styles on perceptions of high-freedom-threatening language in anti-drug messages in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT This paper considers the notion derived from psychological reactance theory that Asian audiences, Chinese in particular, have a less negative attitude towards high-freedom-threatening (HT) messages owing to their collectivistic culture that places less value on individual freedom. The attitudes of 48 participants studying at a local university in Hong Kong towards HT messages in anti-drug campaigns revealed clear preferences for HT messages. Our findings highlight that such a positive attitude cannot be explained solely by collectivistic values of freedom. Instead, we found the influence of traditional Chinese parenting styles experienced during childhood as a potential origin of such perceptions. These findings emphasise the need for a nuanced understanding of the factors shaping attitudes towards HT messages in Asian contexts and the development of more effective anti-drug messaging strategies tailored to the preferences and cultural backgrounds of the target audiences.

Psychological reactance, misinformation, and distrust: A mixed methods analysis of COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

Assessing perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccines is essential for understanding vaccine hesitancy and for improving uptake during public health emergencies. In the complicated landscape of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and rampant misinformation, many individuals faced challenges during vaccination decision-making. The purpose of our mixed methods study is to elucidate factors affecting vaccine decision-making and to highlight the discourse surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines in diverse and underserved communities. This mixed methods study was conducted in Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, and Wisconsin between March and November 2021, combining a cross-sectional survey (n = 3593) and focus groups (n = 47). The groups least likely to report receiving a vaccination were non-Hispanic Whites, Indigenous people, males, and those with moderate socioeconomic status (SES). Those indicating high and low SES reported similar vaccination uptake. Focus group data highlighted resistance to mandates, distrust, misinformation, and concerns about the rapid development surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines. Psychological reactance theory posits that strongly persuasive messaging and social pressure can be perceived as a threat to freedom, encouraging an individual to take action to restore that freedom. Our findings indicate that a subsection of participants felt pressured to get the vaccine, which led to weaker intentions to vaccinate. These results suggest that vaccine rollout strategies should be reevaluated to improve and facilitate informed decision-making.

Goal-gradient point rewards can increase consumers' willingness to purchase poverty-alleviating products

One of the ways to solve the world's poverty problem is by effectively marketing poverty-alleviating products. Some studies show that point rewards can increase consumer willingness to purchase products. In this paper, three types of rewards are designed: tournament point rewards, piece-rate point rewards, and goal-gradient point rewards. Based on the goal-gradient effect, warm glow effect, the psychological reactance theory, and the literature, hypotheses are proposed based on the results of mathematical modeling. Experiments 1 and 2 show that the goal-gradient point rewards and piece-rate point rewards methods can motivate consumers to purchase poverty-alleviating products. Experiments 3 and 4 results indicate that the combination of goal-gradient point rewards for small cash and goal-gradient point rewards for honorary certificates is the best incentive. We therefore suggest that poverty-alleviating product companies use goal-gradient point rewards for small cash and gradient point rewards for honorary certificates to motivate consumer prosocial behavior.

Is it Up to Me or Them? Insights from an Experimental Study on Psychological Reactance Towards Climate Change Mitigation Appeals

ABSTRACT This study posits the hypothesis that the lack of an individual’s engagement in mitigating climate change might be due to reactance, a motivational psychological state that occurs when one’s perceived freedom to think or act is being threatened. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design (N = 623), we varied how mitigation recommendations for transportation were communicated (individual vs. policy appeal) in an online article. Additionally, we manipulated how directly the need to act was stressed (high- vs. low-controlling language). Outcome measures to capture reactance were perceived threat to freedom, counterarguing, and support for recommended mitigation efforts. Participants in the individual condition reported higher perceived threat to freedom, counterarguing, and showed lower support for the recommendations compared to those in the policy condition. In addition, high-controlling language increased perceptions of freedom threat. Results help clarify public responses to climate change mitigation appeals and offer insights about people’s perspectives on climate change mitigation.

Reactance, Mortality Salience, and Skin-Cancer Prevention Among Young Adults

ABSTRACT In an experiment (N = 206) using skin cancer prevention messages and a 2 (mortality: salient, control) × 2 (freedom-limiting language: freedom-limiting, autonomy-supportive) independent-group design, we tested the terror management health model and integrated its predictions with the theory of psychological reactance. We used a sample of young adults because they are most at risk for excessive tanning. Consistent with the study predictions about proximal defenses, mortality salience significantly increased intentions to wear sunscreen all year around, relative to the control condition. A significant interaction between freedom-limiting language and mortality salience on behavioral intention to purchase high-SPF lotion revealed that, when a freedom-limiting message was paired with mortality salience, intentions to purchase high-SPF lotion were significantly greater as compared to autonomy-supportive language, indicating that mortality salience mitigated the maladaptive effects of reactance. These results add to a growing body of research identifying boundary conditions for reactance effects and, further, point to the utility of directive (albeit freedom-limiting language) in health-prevention messages attempting to communicate deadly health risks.

Let’s Influence That Attitude Before It’s Formed: Inoculation Against Reactance to Promote DEI Training

Despite annual investments of $8 billion by U.S. organizations on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training, many DEI programs are derailed by resistance from members whose attitudes and behaviors the programs are intended to address. The current study tested the effectiveness of a narrative-based inoculation strategy designed to mitigate resistance attributable to psychological reactance. Participants ( N = 273) were randomly exposed to either a single-message assignment-to-DEI-training notification or a dual-message inoculation condition in which they received a pro-DEI-training message before receiving the assignment-to-DEI-training notification. The inoculation condition produced lower levels of reactance and greater positive attitude change in favor of DEI training, with reactance mediating the effects of the message conditions on change in attitude toward DEI training and political ideology moderating the effects of reactance. The results contribute to the field by demonstrating the potential utility of inoculation strategies for promoting DEI training and other organizational initiatives.