I was reading an excerpt from a book and I came across “reactance”. When I was researching a little about this word, I found out that reactance finds existence in electronics as well as psychology.
In electronic terms; reactance is the opposition put on a change in current, specifically alternating current. There are two types of reactance –
- Inductive Reactance – Represented as XL, is reactance caused by inductors.
- Capacitive Reactance – Represented by XC, is reactance caused by capacitors.
Coming to the psychological phenomenon of reactance.
I received an email stating that I had been granted an increase on my credit card limit. This didn’t win me until I read, “this exclusive offer is only available for a limited time and to a select few customers like you.”. This single line made me want to leave everything and opt in for the offer asap. Can we say this was under the influence of reactance?
Try to remember, as a kid you must have wanted to have a toy; a toy your parents told you cannot have. Now, try to remember what feelings this denial produced. Did this denial of getting the toy for you increase your desire to want to have it? By the end of this blog, you’ll know what caused it.
Let’s assume, you want to buy a new property. What would you do? Of course, you’ll reach out to a property broker and the broker will then show you all the properties as per your requirements. Now, let us also assume that you liked a property XYZ but you need some time to think. So, 2 days down, when you are unable to decide, the broker gives you a call and says that he showed the same property to a banker from PQS who liked it and is interested in buying the property. Then he says that because he showed the property to you first, he wants you to have that exquisite piece, keeping in mind how much you liked it in the first place. A few days pass and the broker again calls to ask you about any advancements in your decision. He now tells you that a lot of people are eying that property because of so and so reasons. He portrays that property to be one of its kind; rare!
What the broker did here was that he created a sense of scarcity of such exquisite properties. There might not necessarily be a banker from PQS. He used the phenomenon of “reactance”.
Reactance in psychology is the concept wherein your decisions are influenced by limiting the choices that are given to you. So, the sudden rise in the wish to have the toy you were denied or to have the last piece of chakli, or ladoo or sakar para made at home or making decisions hurriedly when buying tickets because an offer was available or when you told Maa you won’t do the dishes only because she asked you to.……… The list can be long.
Take a moment and think about all the instances where you experienced this. Feel free to put them in the comments below so that we all can learn from each other’s experiences.
There’s nothing wrong in being influenced by reactance, it is human nature after all. However, the amount of influence it has on us is worth noting. A little bit of reactance here and there can be relatively harmless. It allows us to exercise our freedom of choice and ensure our actions align with our values and preferences.
However, it’s crucial to maintain balance. Excessive reactance may result in impulsive or defiant behaviour that isn’t always in our best interests. It is critical to take the bigger picture into account, weigh the repercussions, and make thoughtful decisions rather than solely acting in response to reactance. By recognizing when reactance is at play, we can assess its influence on our choices and make sure that our choices are based on a fair analysis of the circumstances rather than just reacting to perceived restrictions on our freedom.