Psychological reactance theory suggests that the higher the threat-level of persuasive messages, the higher the reactance. Previous research has revealed ways to manipulate messages to either arouse or reduce psychological reactance. By contrast, the current work compares people’s reactance across different target actions while keeping the threat-level of the message consistent. We propose that reactance to a message depends on the target action’s pre-existing felt obligation. We demonstrate that low-obligation actions are more sensitive than high-obligation actions to the threat-level of a persuasive message. The current work provides one explanation for inconsistencies in the literature regarding message effects. This work also suggests that pre-existing obligation of a target action should be accounted for in order to successfully implement a message intervention.

中文翻译：

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对说服性信息的反应取决于感受到的义务

心理抗拒理论表明，说服性信息的威胁程度越高，抗拒程度就越高。先前的研究已经揭示了操纵信息以引起或减少心理抗拒的方法。相比之下，当前的工作比较了人们对不同目标行为的反应，同时保持消息的威胁级别一致。我们建议对消息的反应取决于目标行动预先存在的感受到的义务。我们证明，低义务行为比高义务行为对说服性信息的威胁级别更敏感。当前的工作为有关消息效应的文献中的不一致提供了一种解释。这项工作还表明，为了成功实施信息干预，应考虑目标行动的预先存在的义务。