TY - JOUR
T1 - Reacting to reactance
T2 - An Interpersonal interpretation of the need for freedom
AU - Heilman, Madeline E.
AU - Toffler, Barbara Ley
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by funds from a Junior Faculty Research Endowment at Yale University. The authors are indebted to Mrs. Virginia Wrigley, Middle School Principal, and Mr. Peter Welles, Upper School Principal, and the students of the Hopkins Grammar-Day Prospect Hill School in New Haven. Requests for reprints should be sent to Madeline E. Heilman, Yale University, 56 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut 06520.
PY - 1976/11
Y1 - 1976/11
N2 - This study was designed to investigate the conditions under which the negative consequences of social influence attempts can be mitigated by freedom-affirming interventions. Eighty-eight high school girls received an influence message, presumably written by a co-worker, containing either a threat or a promise. In addition, subjects were or were not given a choice option as to mode of compliance, if they chose to comply with the message. In half the cases, the Interpersonal condition, subjects received their choice/no choice option from their co-worker; in the other half of the cases, the Noninterpersonal condition, subjects were assigned the choice/no choice option by a random event unknown to the influencing agent. As anticipated, in the Interpersonal as compared to the Noninterpersonal condition, (a) threats produced greater compliance when a choice was offered than when it was not, and (b) promises and threats were more equivalent in gaining compliance when a choice was offered than when it was not. These results, which suggest that in a social setting individuals' concerns about freedom are interpersonally motivated, are discussed in terms of their relation to and implications for reactance theory.
AB - This study was designed to investigate the conditions under which the negative consequences of social influence attempts can be mitigated by freedom-affirming interventions. Eighty-eight high school girls received an influence message, presumably written by a co-worker, containing either a threat or a promise. In addition, subjects were or were not given a choice option as to mode of compliance, if they chose to comply with the message. In half the cases, the Interpersonal condition, subjects received their choice/no choice option from their co-worker; in the other half of the cases, the Noninterpersonal condition, subjects were assigned the choice/no choice option by a random event unknown to the influencing agent. As anticipated, in the Interpersonal as compared to the Noninterpersonal condition, (a) threats produced greater compliance when a choice was offered than when it was not, and (b) promises and threats were more equivalent in gaining compliance when a choice was offered than when it was not. These results, which suggest that in a social setting individuals' concerns about freedom are interpersonally motivated, are discussed in terms of their relation to and implications for reactance theory.
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U2 - 10.1016/0022-1031(76)90031-7
DO - 10.1016/0022-1031(76)90031-7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0039516423
SN - 0022-1031
VL - 12
SP - 519
EP - 529
JO - Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
JF - Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
IS - 6
ER -