Reactance...

 

Would you like an apple or a banana?”  “No, I want an orange!” 

This tendency to go against the grain is called psychological reactance (Brehm & Brehm, 1981). Reactance is usually activated when we feel that our freedom is threatened.  Reactance motivates us to protect our own beliefs and views, and sometimes, to do the opposite of what we’re being asked to do.

Individuals are predisposed to resist and oppose any influence perceived as a restriction on their autonomy. . Highly reactant individuals do not like to be told what to do, and they do not like anyone influencing them.

Not liking to be told what to do also varies by culture. For instance, the well-known American spirit of independence marks a cultural tendency to protect one’s freedom, alongside a strong drive to be autonomous. The issue of getting Americans to wear masks in the pandemic is a more recent, though certainly not singular, example of how many individuals in the U.S. want to choose what to do—not be told what to do.

In contrast, in more collectivistic cultures that tend to value the group over the individual, people tend to follow the rules without questioning their motives