<p>Some time ago a contrarian (a concept more usually found in literary or journalistic circles), in psychology would be called 'contra suggestive' or 'contra suggestible'. The two are, however, subtly different.  A contra suggestible person simply believes or does the opposite of something suggested by someone else. </p>

<p>Being a contrarian on the other hand usually involves going against cherished societal beliefs, or against prevailing group norms, and can be related to iconoclasm. </p>

<p>Contra-suggestibility (sometimes hyphenated) came out of the psychoanalitic literature, with all the fun and games that entails. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-29T16:06:24.123Z
Very interesting! contra suggestible is very close to what I was looking for! The person creates an opposing idea and will *truly* believe in it without having any evidence.
Grendizer
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-28T19:05:22.620Z
2015-05-28T19:05:22.620Z
Brian Champness
<p>I was searching Google for a name given to a person who disagrees with the majority decision regardless whether he/she truly believe in the opposing idea. </p>

<p>An example, if everyone in group A agrees that John is showing attraction to Julie, Jim [Contrarian] will disagree and will say is something else. Now the same scenario, but group B, if everyone agrees that John is NOT showing attraction to Julie, Jim [Contrarian] will disagree and will say something else.</p>

<p>If Contrarian is the right word for Jim's behavior, is it a psychological problem? If yes, what is the closest term used in psychology to describe such behavior?</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<social-psychology>
Is Contrarian a Psychology Problem?
Grendizer
# Is Contrarian a Psychology Problem?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-05-16)

I was searching Google for a name given to a person who disagrees with the majority decision regardless whether he/she truly believe in the opposing idea.

An example, if everyone in group A agrees that John is showing attraction to Julie, Jim [Contrarian] will disagree and will say is something else. Now the same scenario, but group B, if everyone agrees that John is NOT showing attraction to Julie, Jim [Contrarian] will disagree and will say something else.

If Contrarian is the right word for Jim's behavior, is it a psychological problem? If yes, what is the closest term used in psychology to describe such behavior?

Thanks,

**Tags:** social-psychology


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-05-28. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

Some time ago a contrarian (a concept more usually found in literary or journalistic circles), in psychology would be called 'contra suggestive' or 'contra suggestible'. The two are, however, subtly different. A contra suggestible person simply believes or does the opposite of something suggested by someone else.

Being a contrarian on the other hand usually involves going against cherished societal beliefs, or against prevailing group norms, and can be related to iconoclasm.

Contra-suggestibility (sometimes hyphenated) came out of the psychoanalitic literature, with all the fun and games that entails.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Very interesting! contra suggestible is very close to what I was looking for! The person creates an opposing idea and will *truly* believe in it without having any evidence.  

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