Deflecting Reactance: The Role of Similarity in Increasing Compliance and Reducing Resistance
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On the basis of the approach-avoid dynamics assumed by reactance theory (S. S. Brehm & J. W. Brehm, 1981) and other models (E. S. Knowles & J. A. Linn, 2004), it was predicted that interpersonal similarity can reduce reactance by increasing compliance and by reducing resistance. A communicator's similarity to the participant was manipulated by identical first names and birthdays (Experiment 1) and by congruent values (Experiment 2). People then read essays in which the communicator did or did not threaten their attitudinal freedom. Threats caused boomerang effects only when the communicator's similarity was low or unknown. When the communicator was highly similar to the participant, people agreed strongly, regardless of threat. Similarity increased the force toward persuasion by increasing liking, and it decreased the force toward resistance by making the message seem less threatening. Implications for reactance theory and for resistance to persuasion are discussed.
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People respond to constraints and efforts to influence their decisions by rebelling to reassert personal control.
“The self-determination literature shows that people respond to constraints and efforts to influence their decisions by rebelling to reassert personal control (Brehm and Brehm, 1981;Silvia, 2005).”
From Are Diversity Programs Merely Ceremonial? Evidence-Free Institutionalization (2017) · cites this paper as Silvia, 2005
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Research works printed but not linked: 22
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- Authors
- Silvia, P. J.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro (US)
- Corresponding author
- Silvia, Paul J.
- ORCID
- Silvia, Paul J.
- Venue
- Basic and Applied Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2005-09
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 277-284
- ISSN
- 0197-3533 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-4834
- OpenAlex
- W2032604403
- Cited by
- 164
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 10.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- libres.uncg.edu
- Locations
- Basic and Applied Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- NC Digital Online Collection of Knowledge and Scholarship (The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Psychology of Social Influence
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence
- Keywords
- reactance theory, interpersonal similarity, persuasion, compliance, resistance to persuasion, threats, boomerang effect, liking, value congruence
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