<p>You may wish to look at <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000222" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Steindl, et al. (2015)</a>.</p>
<p>This paper presents an overview of research into Reactance that has been done since Miron and Brehm's 40 years review (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1024/0044-3514.37.1.9" rel="nofollow noreferrer">2006</a>) of all research since Brehm first proposed reactance theory (1966).</p>
<h2>References</h2>
<p>Brehm J. W. (1966). <em>A theory of psychological reactance</em>. New York, NY: Academic Press.</p>
<p>Miron A. M. &amp; Brehm J. W. (2006). Reactance theory – 40 years later. <em>Zeitschrift Für Sozialpsychologie/Journal of Social Psychology, 37</em>(1), 9-18. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1024/0044-3514.37.1.9" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://doi.org/10.1024/0044-3514.37.1.9</a></p>
<p>Steindl, C., Jonas, E., Sittenthaler, S., Traut-Mattausch, E., &amp; Greenberg, J. L. (2015). Understanding psychological reactance: New developments and findings. <em>Zeitschrift fur Psychologie/Journal of Psychology, 223</em>(4), 205-214.
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000222" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000222</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-30T09:08:19.043Z
2020-05-30T09:08:19.043Z
2020-06-17T09:55:31.633Z
Chris Rogers
<p>Consider the following situations</p>

<ul>
<li>You are walking along a narrow ledge overlooking a void.  You know you should not look down but .. you do</li>
<li>You have an annoying little morsel of food stuck between your teeth.  You know very well that trying to prise it loose with your tongue is a futile effort.  But you still do it...</li>
</ul>

<p>I am in the process of putting the finishing touches to a game where the natural tendency of the player to perform actions that will result in scoring points will in fact result in a smaller win.  Everything in the game play push the player to force an early win with a low score.  </p>

<p>I would like to review any studies of such phenomena in psychology so I can leverage a more value into the overall player experience.  Reactance comes close to describing what the player is naturally pushed to do but not quite... .  Are there any other effects of the same ilk that might come closer?  If so, are there any good studies of what drives/amplifies these effects?</p>

<video-games>
Any other studied psychological phenomena like reactance?
DroidOS
# Any other studied psychological phenomena like reactance?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-05-30)

Consider the following situations

* You are walking along a narrow ledge overlooking a void. You know you should not look down but .. you do
* You have an annoying little morsel of food stuck between your teeth. You know very well that trying to prise it loose with your tongue is a futile effort. But you still do it...

I am in the process of putting the finishing touches to a game where the natural tendency of the player to perform actions that will result in scoring points will in fact result in a smaller win. Everything in the game play push the player to force an early win with a low score.

I would like to review any studies of such phenomena in psychology so I can leverage a more value into the overall player experience. Reactance comes close to describing what the player is naturally pushed to do but not quite... . Are there any other effects of the same ilk that might come closer? If so, are there any good studies of what drives/amplifies these effects?

**Tags:** video-games


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-05-30. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

You may wish to look at [Steindl, et al. (2015)](https://dx.doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000222).

This paper presents an overview of research into Reactance that has been done since Miron and Brehm's 40 years review ([2006](https://doi.org/10.1024/0044-3514.37.1.9)) of all research since Brehm first proposed reactance theory (1966).

## References

Brehm J. W. (1966). *A theory of psychological reactance*. New York, NY: Academic Press.

Miron A. M. & Brehm J. W. (2006). Reactance theory – 40 years later. *Zeitschrift Für Sozialpsychologie/Journal of Social Psychology, 37*(1), 9-18. <https://doi.org/10.1024/0044-3514.37.1.9>

Steindl, C., Jonas, E., Sittenthaler, S., Traut-Mattausch, E., & Greenberg, J. L. (2015). Understanding psychological reactance: New developments and findings. *Zeitschrift fur Psychologie/Journal of Psychology, 223*(4), 205-214.
<https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000222>


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