Psychological reactance: what is it and what are its effects?

Have you ever wondered why some people use reverse psychology to convince others?

The answer lies in the reactance, a curious psychological phenomenon that leads us to make decisions in a non-rational way.

What is reactance in Psychology?

Reactance is a psychological phenomenon related to motivation and heuristics, that is, the mental shortcuts by which we make decisions without going through a phase of reflection based on logic.

Specifically, the reactance is a tendency to reject rules or directions coming from others and that are perceived as a limitation of personal freedom. In short, it is an emotional reaction to real or apparent impositions.

Furthermore, reactance is not only a phenomenon that occurs in individuals, but it can manifest itself collectively; for example, in the face of political or economic events.

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The concept of heuristic

Reactance is not as rational as it is emotional, since it is a response to a perception of a change, rather than being based on a logical analysis of the present and the best options that can be taken in that situation.

This is related to the fact that a large part of the decisions and actions that we carry out are not based so much on rational reasoning as on emotions.

• Related article: ""Heuristics": The Mental Shortcuts of Human Thought"

The characteristics of psychological reactance

These are some of the characteristics and psychological effects of this phenomenon.

1. Leads to manipulation

Psychological reactance can be anticipated by people who have a special interest in convincing someone. This makes it used to present an undesirable option in which there are apparent norms and make the other option, the one you really want to "sell" to the other, seem more attractive in comparison.

2. It hinders psychological experimentation

There is a type of psychological reactance called Hawthorne effect that makes it difficult to carry out experiments or research based on the observation of human beings.

This is so because people who volunteer to be observed in this kind of study, knowing that they are being observed, stop acting. naturally and spontaneously by the simple fact that they think about the forecasts and guidelines with which researchers who are working observing.

In some way, they react when knowing that they are being observed, and “disobey” before the premise of acting naturally, which causes them to act in a way that is unrepresentative of their usual way of feeling, thinking or behave.

3. The greater the importance of the element, the greater the reaction

If the option that is threatened by the rules is highly valued, the emotional reaction will be greater and more violent or disruptive.

4. The higher the imposition, the higher the reactance

It has been proven that in cases of reactance, this can appear even when the behavior is limited or "prohibited" it wasn't even overrated before. The greater the feeling that there is something that threatens one's freedom, the greater the reaction against this imposition.

5. The expectation of freedom

People less used to sticking to rules they tend to have a higher level of reactance, because their expectations regarding their level of freedom are higher.

6. A key role in reverse psychology

The reactance is also taken into account by people who use reverse psychology to influence about the behavior of others. This strategy consists of taking advantage of the type of emotionality-based thinking that occurs during reactance to prevent someone from making a rational decision.

In this way, a perfectly acceptable and even desirable option is presented as a type of imposition. apparent, and that makes the interlocutors or the audience feel inclined towards the opposite option.

This phenomenon is commonly used both in dealing with disobedient children and in political argumentation and propaganda.

7. The vision one has of the other influences

Reactance is especially strong when the schemes to be adapted come from someone or something (such as an institution) that is not perceived as legitimate. For example, if there are a series of measures taken by a government that is perceived as illegitimate, the reactions against these new laws will be greater.

8. It depends on the number of freedoms threatened

This phenomenon not only depends on the intensity of the perceived imposition, but also on the amount of freedoms that are compromised. Thus, a rule that affects the ability to purchase products and at the same time the number of options to choose from to make purchases will be seen as a higher imposition and the reactance will be higher.