social
power -
reactance
founders of the
social power
John R P French Bertram Raven
In 1959, social psychologists
John French and Bertram
Raven identified five bases of
power: DEFNITION: the legitimate right of some
Legitimate. other individual or group to prescribe
behavior or belief for a person
Reward.
Expert.
Referent.
Coercive.
And, six years later, added an extra power
base:
Informational.
Reward Power
§Power based on providing
and promising a positive
outcome
“If you brush your teeth every
night this week, I’ll take you to
the movies on Saturday”
Coercive Power
§Power based on providing or
promising a negative outcome
“If you don’t brush your teeth you
can’t watch TV”
Legitimate Power
§Power based on the
influencer’s right or authority
to make a request
“I’m your parent and I’m telling
you to brush your teeth now!”
Referent Power
§Power based on identifying
with or wanting to be like
another person or group
“Your big sister Ana
always brushes twice a
day”
Expert Power
§Power based on special
knowledge, skills, or ability
“The dentist told you to brush twice
a day, she knows best”
Which Base of Power?
Reward Coercive Legitimate Referent Expert
“Four out of five dentists recommend sugarless
gum for their patients who chew gum."
founders of the
social reactance
Jack Brehm
Reactance
the motivation to regain freedom after it
has been lost or threatened – leads people
to resist the social influence of others. The
theory is concerned with how individuals
react when their freedom to choose is
restricted. when an individual's freedom
to engage in a specific behaviour is
threatened. the threatened behaviour
becomes more attractive. For reactance to
occur, the individual must have an
expectation of free choice and the
individual must perceive the freedom in
question as being important
In a given situation, reactance can
only occur when an individual
believes they have control or
freedom over the outcome
The greater number of
freedoms threatened, the
greater will be the reactance
aroused. For instance, if a
person is asked to stop drinking
alcohol altogether, the
reactance to this may be
greater than if they are asked
to drink in moderate amounts.
reactance
Reactance to a threat may
increase when there are
implications of other threats. For
instance, if a professor asks a
student not to eat in class, the
student may infer that this also
means not drinking coffee or
having water. The reactance will
thus increase.
Reactance to a threat will only be
as great as the perceived
importance of freedom. If the
freedom being threatened is very
important, reactance to it will
also be great.
for example, belonging to lgbtq+
community, many places there is no
right to choose who they want to
be with because of set standards
there their freedom to choose
threatende.
Thank
You!
by,
Harishmitha.C.B.
1st M.Sc Clinical Psychology
