We all want to be able to make our own choices.
But sometimes we can be so determined in our
desire for freedom and independence that the
ability to make a choice becomes more important
than the consequences it could bring.
And, even then, without us realising it, our
decisions may have actually been influenced
by other people…
This is Unveiled, and today we’re uncovering
the extraordinary secrets to reverse psychology?
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Today, “reverse psychology” is a popular
term, widely used and sometimes applied more
broadly to many different manipulation tactics.
Often, it relates to any attempt to coerce
or encourage someone to act in a certain way.
At its simplest, though, “reverse psychology”
is the tricking of somebody into doing something
by telling them to do the opposite.
Reverse psychology works because of “reactance”,
which is a psychological motivation that occurs
when someone feels like their freedom is being
threatened.
Reactance is what makes a person want to wrestle
that freedom back by doing the opposite of
what they’re told, making them more susceptible
to reverse psychology methods.
Some people are more prone to reactance than
others… while some are naturally more compliant;
more willing to do what they’re told right
away, making them less likely to be influenced
by reverse psychology.
While neither reactance nor compliancy is
an innately negative trait, both can be in
certain situations.
In professional circles, “reverse psychology”
isn’t even called “reverse psychology”
at all - that term was coined by the media.
Instead, it’s called “paradoxical intervention”
and is even reportedly (and controversially)
used by some therapists to help clients break
bad habits.
There’s ongoing debate about whether paradoxical
intervention as therapy is ethical, but the
process is actually quite straightforward:
By telling someone to focus on (or even participate
in) a behaviour they actually want to avoid,
it forces them to think about and analyse
why they’re doing it in the first place…
then, when they eventually rebel - via reactance
and out of their desire for freedom - they
will have achieved the goal they originally
set out with; they’ll have kicked the habit.
The ethical concerns with this particular
technique are clear, though… because what
if the behaviour that a client wants to get
rid of is in any way distressing or dangerous?
It’s why the use of paradoxical intervention
has to be determined on a case-by-case basis.
But of course, reverse psychology isn’t
only a clinical approach.
We see and experience it all the time, in
our everyday lives.
It’s even a key theme (although accidentally)
in Christianity.
When God told Adam and Eve not to eat from
the tree of knowledge, it’s not widely thought
that it was because He secretly wanted them
to do so…
But, regardless, Eve was persuaded to take
a bite, thanks partly to her being told that
she couldn’t…
aaand humanity gets cast out of the Garden
of Eden.
For a more contemporary (and less biblical)
example of how reverse psychology can unintentionally
work toward negative results, we have unrealistic
advertising campaigns for gym and exercise
products.
In some cases the use of models and actors
exhibiting exceptional levels of fitness - the
levels that anyone, supposedly, can achieve
- has actually been shown to “put off”
the general public.
Rather than selling sport and exercise as
something which viewers can and want to participate
in, the reverse happens and people feel alienated
from the start - the opposite effect is achieved
to what was intended.
On the other hand, reverse psychology has
also been purposefully employed as a marketing
tool on plenty of occasions, and to great
effect.
One example is through the invention of “secret
brands”, which are brands and products that
don’t advertise at all, relying only on
word of mouth to generate sales.
When it’s used successfully, it means that
because a particular product isn’t actively
advertised it automatically seems more exclusive
and desirable.
It’s for this reason that increasing numbers
of bars and restaurants, for example, open
up completely “off the grid” - certainly
without a social media presence, but sometimes
without so much as a sign out front to tell
you that they’re even there.
The first step toward drinking or dining at
these places is, of course, knowing that they
exist… but after that, their success (and
often high prices) are at least partly built
on customers’ unwillingness to conform - on
their reactance.
It’s a tactic used in sales in other ways,
too…
A salesperson for any product might “avoid”
showing a customer the more expensive options
available, pretending to be under the assumption
that they couldn’t afford them.
But, if (or when) that customer learns of
that assumption, the reverse psychology at
play means that they might go ahead and make
the pricier purchase, anyway.
In proving that they “can afford it, actually!”,
they again display their reactance.
The “secret” to reverse psychology so
far, then, seems to be subtlety.
The salesperson has a pitch, but it’s what
they’re not saying that really hits home;
the therapist has a process, but it’s vital
that the client doesn’t recognise it.
But then, sometimes, it’s much more about
what’s right in front of our eyes - for
good or for bad.
Warning labels definitely aren’t designed
as exercises in reverse psychology.
They’re almost always meant to clearly dissuade
you against doing something that is potentially
harmful.
And yet, plenty of people still choose to
completely ignore them - by diving into a
“no dive” zone of the pool, for example.
So, what gives?
Well, warning labels are actually quite a
complex field, with various psychological
studies suggesting that they can really, in
practice, encourage people to enact whatever
specific behaviours they warn against.
Here’s where reverse psychology can really
cause problems: On the one hand potential
hazards need to be flagged, but on the other
those “flags” draw more attention to what
a person’s “not allowed to do” - and
people don’t like that.
In some cases, it doesn’t matter how blatantly
someone knows that doing a particular thing
is a bad idea, if they’re prone to reactance
they might just do it anyway.
In some cases, though, the reactance is more
fuelled by perceived injustice.
Much further back in history, one enormous
and particularly infamous example of reverse
psychology at work happed during Prohibition
in the United States.
In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment to the US
Constitution prohibited the sale, manufacturing,
and transportation of “intoxicating liquors”
across America… and the Volstead Act of
1920 further defined those liquors as any
drink with an alcohol content higher than
0.5%.
Famously, Prohibition didn’t work.
There was no way to effectively enforce it,
with only around 1,500 federal agents dedicated
to upholding the anti-alcohol laws across
the entire country.
Instead, prohibition led to a boom in organised
crime, with mobsters across the US smuggling
in liquor, brewing moonshine and opening speakeasies.
And there was definitely a market for it!
In fact, during Prohibition, there were reportedly
more drinking establishments in New York City
than there ever had been before alcohol was
made illegal - with an estimated 5,000 in
Manhattan alone.
In short, the US government telling people
that they couldn’t have alcohol anymore
resulted in a marked and drastic increase
in its consumption, until the ban was repealed
in 1933.
This large-scale reactance came in spite of
the fact that Prohibition did have many avid
supporters at the time, and America had a
huge Temperance movement concerned with real
problems like alcohol abuse and domestic violence.
Nevertheless, thousands and thousands of people
rebelled against the legislation every single
day.
In these cases, warning signs and product
bans, the psychological kickback is much clearer
to see.
In neither example is reverse psychology an
intended result - warning signs and labels
really do mean to warn whoever sees them,
and the 1920s US government really did mean
to outlaw alcohol - but reactance is still
at play.
In this way, though, reverse psychology is
often associated with parents trying to make
their children behave as they’d like them
to – by making them eat all their greens,
for example – because it’s thought that
children often don’t understand when they’re
being manipulated, so it doesn’t really
matter if the reverse psychology tactics are
clumsy.
It’s not usually the same for adults, though.
We know that subtlety is important to some
degree and that there’s a human tendency
to break rules, both of which provide a base
for reverse psychology… but for the most
blatant examples there’s also one final
outcome; reverse reverse psychology.
This is when someone actually does what you
tell them to because they know (or believe
they know) which alternative outcome you’re
really trying to achieve.
In this case, the person attempting to manipulate
is at a loss; and the “psychological boot”
is on the other foot.
For example, say you really wanted somebody
to watch a certain movie, but you also knew
that they didn’t want to watch it.
You might suggest that the movie was too complicated
for them to understand, and in standard reverse
psychology they’d U-turn and watch the movie
just to prove that they did understand it.
But, in “reverse reverse psychology”,
they’d only get more annoyed with you, identifying
the tactics you were trying to play, and refusing
to play along.
Their reaction is reactance, but twofold…
the movie remains unwatched, and you the manipulator
become the manipulated!
Humans have a natural desire for freedom and
independence, and it often shows itself in
a tendency toward rebellion (or reactance)
whenever we feel that that freedom is being
compromised.
So, by making people think that they’re
making a decision for themselves, you can
arguably convince them of, well, anything.
Unless, of course, they’re one step ahead
of you in this psychological game of cat and
mouse…
So, if you’ve ever encountered reverse psychology
then why not let us know about it..?
Or, actually, don’t let us know about it!
Yeah, that’s the one.
What do you think?
Is there anything we missed?
Let us know in the comments, check out these
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