Overcoming resistance
I heard the term psychology of resistance to describe what happens when people don’t like to be forced to do something by someone else. This is similar to the backfire effect I wrote about earlier. The psychologist was referencing things like the pandemic mask mandates and vaccines. He had some recommendations, including reframing to help people see they do have a choice.
The reactions to the pandemic mandates may have political ramifications. I just heard a guest (Emily Jashinsky) on Ezra Klein’s podcast saying that the reaction to the mandates is the most motivating factor driving people who are newly attracted to the right.
It seems some people may be more likely to have this reaction than others, such as one of Gretchen Rubin’s typology of personalities that she calls the Four Tendencies. The type she calls the “Rebel” has a slogan “You can’t make me, and I can’t make me either.” She’s been collecting strategies to help with convincing rebels, including asking them what the person they would like to be would do. More details about rebels can be found here.
I also just heard a story that illustrates a different type of reframing for rebels, using Moral Foundation Theory, which is the basis of my book, “Persuade, Don’t Preach”.
In 1995, then President Clinton lifted the mandated 55 mile an hour speed limit required to get federal funding, Montana decided to reinstitute what they had before, which was no speed limit, providing that the speed was “reasonable and prudent”. As I heard the story, Montana became a magnet for out of state drivers who wanted to drive really fast. This resulted in a number of court cases instituted by people who challenged their ticket, claiming their speed was reasonable and prudent. Finally, in one of the cases, the Montana Supreme Court decided that the standard was too vague and asked lawmakers to set an actual limit.
The reframing came by the governor, who stated (as I heard it described) that Montanans knew what “reasonable and prudent” was, but those from out of state didn’t. The person who relayed this story to me knew this was a remarkable way to convince people, but he only understood why it worked so well after I explained the reframing technique using the Belonging and Community moral foundation. This is very similar to the “Don’t Mess with Texas” litter campaign that I describe in my book.