Knight, Clinton G., Tobin, Stephanie J., and Hornsey, Matthew J. (2014) From fighting the system to embracing it: control loss promotes system justification among those high in psychological reactance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 54. pp. 139-146.

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Abstract

One way to restore a sense of control is to system justify. Individuals high in trait reactance are particularly motivated to regain a sense of control in the face of freedom loss. But will high-reactance individuals system justify to restore control, given that they typically oppose authority? Based on the Compensatory Control Model (CCM), we propose that high-reactance individuals' motivation to compensate for control loss will, at times, overcome this aversion to authority and lead to increased system justification. In Study 1, high-reactance American participants were shown to hold stronger oppositional attitudes toward government authority (i.e., they showed reduced system justification). In Studies 2–4, only high-reactance participants increased their support of government when personal control was reduced. Thus, for high-reactance individuals, the need for control compensation overpowers the need to hold anti-authority attitudes. Outcomes support a CCM account of control compensation for those high (not low) in trait reactance.

Item ID:	69133
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1096-0465
Keywords:	system justification, reactance, compensatory control, freedom
Copyright Information:	© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
Date Deposited:	08 Mar 2022 05:32
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5205 Social and personality psychology > 520505 Social psychology @ 70% 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5205 Social and personality psychology > 520503 Personality and individual differences @ 30%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 100%
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