Reactance to Deterrence: How Discouragement Impels Success
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1
Columbia University, Psychology, United States
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2
University of Geneva, Neuroscience, Switzerland
Background: Discouragement is commonly assumed to have a deterrent effect on behavior. However, psychological reactance theory predicts that a threat to a behavioral freedom induces a motivational state aimed at restoring the freedom. Empirical evidence supporting the counterintuitive idea that discouragement might not only motivate people, but might also lead to improved performance has remained lacking and the neural mechanisms underlying these phenomena have yet to be understood.
Methods: 25 participants were scanned using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) while performing a task where they were encouraged, given no feedback or discouraged by an independent set of judges to take up a challenge on a trial-by-trial basis. Taking up the challenge, which consisted in deciding whether a letter subliminally displayed on the screen was a vowel or a consonant, resulted in earning more money but also involved a risk of getting a mild electric shock at the end of the experiment in case of failure.
Results: As expected, discouragement had either a deterrent or a motivating effect depending on the participant. At the neural level, the insula and ventral striatum were found to mediate the motivating effect of discouragement. Moreover, reactant behavior was associated with an increase in performance, whereby the ability to categorize the subliminal stimulus was enhanced following discouragement. This effect was further demonstrated to rely on the coupling between insula and lateral orbitofrontal cortex activities, in accordance with the role of the latter in facilitating successful goal-oriented behavior.
Conclusions: These results provide the first behavioral evidence that discouragement can be beneficial in some instances, by increasing both the motivation to perform an action and the success associated with this action. Furthermore, the current findings offer important new insight into the neurobiological foundation of these phenomena.
Keywords:
Motivation,
fMRI,
social neuroscience,
insula,
performance,
psychological reactance,
Discouragement
Conference:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Emotional and Social Processes
Citation:
Prevost
C,
Lau
H and
Mobbs
D
(2015). Reactance to Deterrence: How Discouragement Impels Success.
Conference Abstract:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00368
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Received:
19 Feb 2015;
Published Online:
24 Apr 2015.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Charlotte Prevost, Columbia University, Psychology, New York, United States, Charlotte.Prevost@unige.ch