Reactance

Reactance
Theory

The theory of reactance is that people react to protect their sense of freedom (Myers, 2013, pg 220). People react negatively to restrictions made upon their freedom, which often produces an anti-conformity response. Likewise, studies have also shown people to have a negative response to the loss of their something that has made them unique. According to Myers (2013), “In one field experiment, many nongeeky students stopped wearing a 'livestrong' wristband when nearby geeky academic students started wearing the band.” In addition, reactance may be linked to underage drinking in that adolescents are being asked to conform to the requests of their parents or the demands of society. These adolescents react by taking the exact opposite stance as what's being demanded of them (Myers, 2013).

Event

Examples of reactance are numerous, but the one that I've chosen is that of my oldest son, Jayton. Jayton is only four years old, but he knows just the buttons to push. My son has the uncanny ability to react in the exact opposite of what is intended by another party. For example, if I were to ask Jayton to go get something in another room, he would immediately begin complaining that he couldn't find it without ever having left the room. If another child has a shirt or a toy that he has or likes, he will begin complaining without really knowing or explaining why.

Jayton seems to be displaying a desire to be unique, as if all of the Superman, Batman, and Star Wars Movies, television shows, and merchandise are made just for him. He doesn't mind showing off his own uses for the merchandise, but if anyone intrudes upon this, it throws his life into disarray.

References

Myers, D. (2013). Social psychology. (eleventh ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.