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reactance
You want a thing more precisely because it is forbidden.
Research by Jack Brehm in 1966 suggests that restricting your freedom to choose leads to a sudden increase in the perceived value of the unavailable option.
Psychological reactance is your brain's defense against threats to your autonomy. When an external force tries to limit your choices, you experience motivational arousal to regain that control. The restricted option immediately becomes more attractive simply because it is no longer yours to have.
The prohibition is often what creates the desire.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Brehm, 1966, A Theory of Psychological Reactance
- What the check found
- Brehm's 1966 text is the foundational source for this theory. While the provided reference material does not contain a direct quote, the claim accurately describes the core mechanism of the theory as established in academic literature.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.