Message effects on psychological reactance: meta-analyses
Li first author. Meta-analyses of 28 articles, 33 studies and 146 effect sizes published between 2005 and 2024 found that high freedom-threatening language, against low, raised anger, negative cognitions and measured reactance, with correlations of about 0.21, 0.17 and 0.20. Gain against loss framing made no difference to any of the three, a null. Anger and negative cognitions were both negatively associated with persuasion outcomes.
Li first author. Meta-analyses of 28 articles, 33 studies and 146 effect sizes published between 2005 and 2024 found that high freedom-threatening language, against low, raised anger, negative cognitions and measured reactance, with correlations of about 0.21, 0.17 and 0.20. Gain against loss framing made no difference to any of the three, a null. Anger and negative cognitions were both negatively associated with persuasion outcomes.
Written from the abstract read 2026-10-18.
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Li, Z., & Shi, J. (2025). Message effects on psychological reactance: meta-analyses. Human Communication Research, 52(1), 38-52. doi:10.1093/hcr/hqaf016.