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Contents
- Abstract
- Wave 1: Theory Proposal and Testing
- Assumptions of PRT
- Components of PRT
- Freedoms
- Elimination and threats to freedom
- Arousal of reactance
- Characteristics of the freedom
- Characteristics of the threat
- Restoration of freedom: Behavioral outcomes
- Restoration of freedom: Subjective outcomes
- When reactance reduction fails
- Wave 2: Contributions From Clinical Psychology
- Perspectives on Reactance in Clinical Psychology
- Reactance as a moderator
- Overcoming reactance in therapy
- Reactance as a tailoring variable
- Debate Over Trait Reactance
- Future Directions for PRT in Clinical Psychology
- Wave 3: Contributions From Communication Research
- Controlling and Autonomy-Supportive Language
- Other Message Features Affecting Reactance Arousal
- Restoration postscripts
- Message novelty
- Narrative
- Empathy
- Inoculation and reactance
- Reactance as persuasive strategy
- Future Directions for PRT in Communication Research
- Wave 4: Measuring Reactance
- Measuring Trait Reactance
- Self-report measures
- Questionnaire for Measuring Psychological Reactance
- Therapeutic Reactance Scale
- Hong Psychological Reactance Scale
- Observational measure
- Measuring State Reactance
- Self-report measures
- The intertwined model
- Salzburg State Reactance Scale
- Reactance to Health Warnings Scale
- Physiological measurement of reactance
- Future Directions for Measurement of Reactance
- Wave 5: Return to Motivation
- Factors Affecting Perceptions of Freedom Threats and Freedom Restoration
- Expanding Catalysts of Reactance
- Expanding Outcomes of Reactance
- Conclusion
Abstract
Psychological reactance theory (PRT; Brehm, 1966) posits that when something threatens or eliminates people’s freedom of behavior, they experience psychological reactance, a motivational state that drives freedom restoration. Complementing recent, discipline-specific reviews (e.g., Quick, Shen, & Dillard, 2013; Steindl, Jonas, Sittenthaler, Traut-Mattausch, & Greenberg, 2015), the current analysis integrates PRT research across fields in which it has flourished: social psychology and clinical psychology, as well as communication research. Moreover, the current review offers a rare synthesis of existing reactance measures. We outline five overlapping waves in the PRT literature: Wave 1: Theory proposal and testing; Wave 2: Contributions from clinical psychology; Wave 3: Contributions from communication research; Wave 4: Measurement of reactance; and Wave 5: Return to motivation. As part of our description of Wave 5, we detail scholars’ renewed focus on motivational aspects of the framework, and the ways in which this return to PRT’s motivational roots is allowing researchers to push its accuracy and applicability forward. We use this research that is already occurring in Wave 5 to outline three specific ways in which scholars can...