On the Nature of Reactance and its Role in Persuasive Health Communication

Dillard, James Price; Shen, Lijiang

doi:10.1080/03637750500111815

Cited by 1,175 publications

(1,586 citation statements)

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“…[6,8,9,17,19,[21][22][23]25]. This research indicates that when language becomes more controlling, people are more prone to respond in 1 The original theory of psychological reactance [3] speaks of perceived freedom instead of perceived autonomy.…”

Section: Psychological Reactancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…1); (1) a perceived autonomy 1 (e.g., autonomy to choose coffee or tea at a conference), (2) a threat 2 to that perceived autonomy (e.g., a waitress persuading you to drink coffee), (3) the experience of psychological reactance (i.e., as indicated by feelings of anger and negative cognitions), and (4) a desire to restore the threatened autonomy (e.g., asking for tea instead of coffee). The restoration of autonomy can occur directly, by doing the forbidden act; or indirectly by an increase of attractiveness or liking for the eliminated option [5], by denying the existence of the threat to autonomy, by exercising a similar autonomy to gain a feeling of control, or by derogating the source, described in [8].…”

Section: Psychological Reactancementioning

confidence: 99%

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When Artificial Social Agents Try to Persuade People: The Role of Social Agency on the Occurrence of Psychological Reactance

Roubroeks

Ham

Midden

2011

Int J of Soc Robotics

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In the near future, robotic agents might employ persuasion to influence people's behavior or attitudes, just as human agents do in many situations. People can comply with these requests, but, people can also experience psychological reactance, which may lead to the complete opposite of the proposed behavior. In this study we are interested in the social nature of psychological reactance. Social agency theory proposes that more social cues lead to a more social interaction. We argue that this also holds for psychological reactance. Therefore, we expect a positive relationship between the level of social agency of the source of a persuasive message and the amount of psychological reactance the message arouses. In an online experiment, participants read an advice on how to conserve energy when using a washing machine. The advice was either provided as text-only, as text accompanied by a still picture of a robotic agent, or as text accompanied by a short film clip of the same robotic agent. Confirming our expectations, results indicated that participants experienced more psychological reactance when the advice was accompanied by the still picture or when the advice was accompanied by the short film clip as compared to when the advice was provided as text-only. This indicates that stronger social agency of the messenger can lead to more psychological reactance. Furthermore, our results confirmed earlier research about the effects of controlling language on psychological reactance. Implications are discussed.

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Section: Psychological Reactancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Psychological Reactancementioning

confidence: 99%

When Artificial Social Agents Try to Persuade People: The Role of Social Agency on the Occurrence of Psychological Reactance

Roubroeks

Ham

Midden

2011

Int J of Soc Robotics

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“…Social control can lead to negative emotions (e.g., anger, hostility) if the target feels that his or her freedom is being constrained (Dillard and Shen 2005;Rook 1990) or that the would-be influencer is not truly concerned about the target person's health. In contrast, social control can lead to positive emotions (e.g., happiness) if the target person feels that the individual attempting to influence them is genuinely concerned about his or her health or if the social control is embedded in a high-quality relationship (Lewis and Butterfield 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, social control can lead to positive emotions (e.g., happiness) if the target person feels that the individual attempting to influence them is genuinely concerned about his or her health or if the social control is embedded in a high-quality relationship (Lewis and Butterfield 2005). Tucker and Anders (2001) proposed that negative emotions in response to social control lead to reactance, or the motivation to reject or actively resist social control, and behavioral resistance (Brehm and Brehm 1981;Dillard and Shen 2005). Much of this research has examined influence attempts from spouses and romantic partners, rather than from the parents of adolescents transitioning into adulthood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adolescents’ Response to Parental Efforts to Influence Eating Habits: When Parental Warmth Matters

Lessard

Greenberger

Chen

2008

J Youth Adolescence

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“…Reliability was excellent (a = .925, M = 4.07, SD = 1.16). The perceived threat measure, derived from Dillard and Shen's (2005) scale of perceived threat, used 7-point Likert-type scale items (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Items consisted of the message threatened my freedom to choose, the message tried to manipulate me, the message tried to make a decision for me, and the message tried to pressure me.…”

Section: Message Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Appealing to Goodwill or YOLO-Promoting Conservation Volunteering to Millennials

Nisbett

Strzelecka

2016

Voluntas

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Volunteer travel opportunities are more plentiful than ever and are now offered worldwide, with conservation projects being an increasingly popular choice. Some of the emerging questions in this field are concerned with the effective communication of these opportunities to young people. One theory that could guide the creation of these persuasive campaigns for conservation volunteering is regulatory focus theory. By adopting this theory, we reveal yet another possibility for understanding motivations of conservation volunteers. Results of the experiment suggest promotion messages are better received (more persuasive) because they induce expectations in line with general view of conservation volunteering as a hedonic experience. Moreover, this study is the first one of its kind to show this important effect of environmental attitudes on individuals' responses to promotional messages about conservation volunteering travel.Résumé Les occasions de voyage bénévole sont plus nombreuses que jamais et désormais offertes partout dans le monde, les projets de conservation en constituant un choix de plus en plus populaire. Dans ce domaine, des questions émergentes portent sur la communication efficace de ces occasions aux jeunes. Une des théories qui pourraient orienter la création de ces campagnes de persuasion pour le bénévolat dans le domaine de la conservation est la théorie à focalisation réglementaire. En l'adoptant, nous pouvons mieux comprendre les motivations des bénévoles oeuvrant dans le domaine de la conservation. Les résultats de l'expérimentation suggèrent & Marianna Strzelecka marianna.strzelecka@lnu.se

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On the Nature of Reactance and its Role in Persuasive Health Communication

Cited by 1,175 publications

References 50 publications

When Artificial Social Agents Try to Persuade People: The Role of Social Agency on the Occurrence of Psychological Reactance

When Artificial Social Agents Try to Persuade People: The Role of Social Agency on the Occurrence of Psychological Reactance

Adolescents’ Response to Parental Efforts to Influence Eating Habits: When Parental Warmth Matters

Appealing to Goodwill or YOLO-Promoting Conservation Volunteering to Millennials

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