When public health campaigns aim to change behavior, they often rely on urgent, directive language. A new comprehensive ...

The theory of psychological reactance originates in the 1960s with Jack Brehm, who developed it when he was a professor at Duke University. Brehm said that humans are negatively aroused when they ...

First proposed in 1966 by Jack W Brehm and researched extensively over the past five decades, psychological reactance is a motivational state experienced when a person identifies a limitation being ...

Reverse psychology is not an exact science, but communication experts try to find the right balance between positive and negative aspects of behavioral change. The longest running off-Broadway musical ...

There's good news for frustrated parents trying to get their kids to eat their vegetables (or go to sleep, or clean their rooms): Science shows that using reverse psychology can, indeed, work. Reverse ...

Reactance theory grew out of research on consumer behavior. This psychological theory describes how people react when they sense a threat to their freedom of choice. The theory extends to many other ...

This is the second part of a two-part series of essays. [July 14 update: I posted this essay July 13, one day before the Trump administration announced that it was rescinding the ICE policy described ...