Freedom and Reactance

Brehm’s theory of psychological reactance in 1966 marked the beginning of a psychological investigation into the consequences of losing freedom. The concept “freedom” had been touched upon intermittently by disciplines such as political science and philosophy, and even on occasion by psychology, but Brehm’s treatment had been the first analysis of freedom to spark experimental investigations into the variety of reactions to infringements on freedom. Originally published in 1974, Freedom and...