The theory describing a motivational state consisting of distress, anxiety and desire to restore freedoms taken away when an individual responds to a perceived threat or to loss of a freedom. According to the theory when an individual feels forced into a certain behavior, they will react against the coercion. This reaction is often exemplified by an increased desire for the behavior that is now restrained. This resentment may manifest in doing the exact opposite of what the power authority wanted.
REACTANCE THEORY: “Reactance theory states that people will oftern resent the loss of a freedom and will rebel by doing the opposite of what they’re told.”