Understanding Psychological Reactance: New Developments and Findings
Steindl first author. A review of reactance research published since 2006. The moderator it foregrounds is which freedom is threatened: people with an independent self-construal react to threats to their personal freedom, those with an interdependent self-construal to threats affecting their group, and the pattern also appeared when self-construal was primed experimentally. Vicarious reactance ran the other way, with collectivist participants reacting more strongly on another person's behalf.
Steindl first author. A review of reactance research published since 2006. The moderator it foregrounds is which freedom is threatened: people with an independent self-construal react to threats to their personal freedom, those with an interdependent self-construal to threats affecting their group, and the pattern also appeared when self-construal was primed experimentally. Vicarious reactance ran the other way, with collectivist participants reacting more strongly on another person's behalf.
Written from the full text read 2026-10-18.
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Steindl, C., Jonas, E., Sittenthaler, S., Traut-Mattausch, E., & Greenberg, J. (2015). Understanding Psychological Reactance: New Developments and Findings. Zeitschrift fuer Psychologie, 223(4), 205-214. doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000222.