Reactance: Why people ignore expert advice
And how psychology can persuade them to change
“Behavior is the end result of a prevailing story in one’s mind: change the story and the behavior will change.”
― Dr. Jacinta Mpalyenkana
Like nearly everyone on the planet, you’ve probably been affected by Covid-19. Whether you’re social distancing or in total lockdown, over the past few weeks, we’ve all been asked to change our behavior. It’s in service of what’s called “flattening the curve” — using social distancing measures to slow a virus’ spread so that fewer people need to be treated at any given time.
You may have noticed that some people are more reluctant than others to self-isolate or wash their hands. By rebelling against medical advice, they’re putting everyone at risk.
But why?
It’s down to a psychological principle known as reactance. A concept pioneered by researcher Jack Brehm, it describes an adverse reaction to rules, regulations, or guidelines that are perceived as a threat to individual freedoms. In other words:
Reactance is when you tell someone to do something, but instead of obeying your request they purposely do the exact opposite.
How behavioral scientists are combating reactance to Covid-19 recommendations
“A lot of the challenges that we’re facing right now are behavioral challenges.”
— Jon Jachimowicz, Harvard Business School
Rebels are often not rebelling against the rules themselves, but the way the rules are communicated to them. If we can frame behavioral requests in a way that’s not seen as threatening individual freedom, we can get them to better adhere to the rules.
In fact, a group of researchers is currently studying how best to frame messages for reactors. Federico Raimondi Slepoi, head of the behavioral science unit for the government in Rome, began the study by reaching out to his global colleagues for help in understanding how to persuade those who continue to skirt lockdown regulations.
The pace of the study has been incredibly fast. From launch to posting the results online, results were shared in a week.
The group began by testing different messages with an online group of 2,300 participants. The framing of each message applies a unique behavioral science approach.
1. The Authority Principle
The Authority Principle states that people tend to comply with those in positions of power, such as police, government leaders, professors, and perceived experts.
Subjects in this test group got messages that quoted doctors, as well as the Italian Medical Association.
2. Social Proof
Coined by Robert Cialdini in his book, Influence, Social Proof describes the tendency of people to look to the actions of others as permission to take on a new behavior.
People like to follow social norms, especially when they identify with the group. Studies have shown that describing behaviors as valued in the community, and making people feel like “everyone’s doing this, except you” are powerful persuasion techniques.
In the coronavirus framing study, messages used Social Proof in two ways:
- Appealing to social norms by emphasizing that most Italians consider the Covid-19 situation to be grave.
- Appealing to a sense of social protection by telling people to remain at home to protect other people.
The results
Overall, eight messages were sent to participants. Seven of the eight messages were tested against a control message that simply said: “Stay home.” Although most people in the study complied with the request, there were specific groups that were less likely to stay in their homes.
- “Those under the age of 50 were less likely to remain home or to disclose that they were infected.”
- “…Men were less apt to share the information they had received within their social networks.”
According to researchers, one of the main questions researchers will explore moving forward is finding framing interventions that will work specifically for young adults. The team has launched parallel studies in Germany, Spain, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
More ways to change reactance behaviors with behavioral science
1. Loss Aversion
First identified by Nobel Prize-winner Daniel Kahneman, Loss Aversion is a psychological principle that says people will go to great lengths to avoid losing. In fact, the psychological pain of losing is twice as powerful as the pleasure of winning.
The psychological pain of losing is twice as powerful as the pleasure of winning.
Because it’s so powerful, Loss Aversion features heavily in cognitive psychology and decision theory. It’s also one of the most effective tactics for persuading people to act (the other being Social Proof).
2. The Reciprocity Principle
Reciprocity is a social norm of responding to a positive action with another positive action. It’s why you feel indebted when someone does you a favor.
Made famous by Robert Cialdini in his book Influence, Reciprocity can be summed with the old adage, “You have to give to get.”
Applying these principles to Covid reactance
To change behavior using these principles, we need to give people something but something they don’t want to lose. For example, governments or employers could pay out a small amount of cash to each citizen, then take back the payment if people are caught breaking quarantine.
By giving out a small cash payment, governments or employers can leverage Reciprocity — you’ve done something for me, so I’m going to stay inside to return the favor. By taking back the cash if the person is caught breaking quarantine, these groups can leverage the powerful Loss Aversion principle.
The Bottom Line
Rebels are everywhere, and reactance is something we all experience from time to time. But when it comes to adherence to medical advice in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, it’s literally a matter of life and death.
