Adults who resist being told what to do may not be stubborn, but reacting to a psychological phenomenon called reactance.
Adult defiance has a psychological name
Adults who consistently resist being told what to do may be exhibiting a psychological response called reactance. This phenomenon involves anger, irritability, and even violence in extreme cases, and is not necessarily linked to stubbornness.Study links imposed opinions to stronger disagreement
A 2019 study published in the journal Frontiers found that people who were given an opinion to accept were more likely to disagree with it. The research suggests that individuals react differently to persuasion and that this does not always reflect a specific personality trait.Resistance to persuasion stems from various factors
The refusal to comply with suggestions is often not due to stubbornness but can be linked to a strong desire for autonomy, a lack of trust, or difficulty with change. Studies from 2015 suggest that resistance to persuasion is often tied to fear of being deceived, while autonomy and biased information processing are more common when people resist change.Phrasing of requests affects compliance
The way a request is worded can significantly influence how it is received. Unsolicited advice or commands like "you must" can threaten a person’s sense of autonomy and trigger reactance. In contrast, more open-ended suggestions like "you could try" are less likely to provoke resistance.
