B.E.S.T. slave training

 

Reactance to a loss of an important freedom

Reactance is often considered a part of what happens during slave training and  to my knowledge was first discussed  as part of slave training on  the below listed website. 

 http://www.enslavement.org.uk/reactance.html

 

Reactance is a type of internal resistance that should be expected from a slave during training.  Recognizing and overcoming reactance is important in slave training.

Reactance occurs when the slave perceives a threat to her freedoms or and actual  " loss of a freedom"  that is important to her and this motivates her to attempt to  restore that freedom.    The theory also associates the state of reactance with emotional stress, anxiety, resistance and struggle for the slave, and she is motivated to escape from these feelings.

Reactance is not a resistance to the time involved in training or even a resistance to her Masters efforts to train her, it is a resistance to a "loss of a freedom" and the emotional stress that this loss causes her.   she attempts to regain this freedom usually by an emotional reaction to the change. This is a point that is often misunderstood.  It is a personal resistance to a loss of a freedom as opposed to a resistance to her Master.  However, her way of rebelling against the loss of freedom may be seen as resistance to her Master.

Restated, reactance is a resistance to a thing (loss of freedom) not a person.  A slave has a reactance to loosing control as opposed to resisting her Master.  

Example 1) If a slave has taken pride in choosing her own clothing to wear all her life and her Master now chooses her clothing for her, the resistance in not against her Master, it is again the loss of freedom.

Example 2) If a slave has agreed to move in with her Master to become a 24/7 slave, she may, at the last minute, have a reactance to the loss of freedom and privacy she knows in coming.  It is an internal conflict instead of a reaction against her Master.

One of the major factors in overcoming reactance is for the slave to feel that no matter how she reacts to the "loss of freedom, "  her  Master will not give in.  She is faced with an overwhelming force and her only option is to accept the "loss of freedom".   Her behavior is controlled by her Master, therefore she must change her attitude  about the "loss of freedom" in order to reduce the stress the reactance causes. (see Cognitive Dissonance Theory theory)

Reactance Theory operates in three sequential phases.  The first phase is the activating step and the key feature of the Reactance Theory.

Phase 1. A slave perceives an "unfair" restriction on her behavior or  loss of an important freedom.

The key words are "unfair" and "important." A slave will accept restrictions and loss of freedom if she feels that it is reasonable, equal, and just.  When the slave feels the restrictions are unfair, she doesn’t know why they are being applied, she thinks they are too tough, or too important, then her emotions may move to phase 2.

Phase 2. The state of reactance is activated.

Reactance can be very motivational to the slave.  The slave in a state of reactance is emotional, single-minded, and can be somewhat irrational. It arises because she has been wronged and she is not going to take it anymore.  Reactance is important to understand because it has strong motivational properties and leads to the final phase.

Phase 3. The slave must act to remove the reactance.

The motivational qualities the slave has in the state of reactance are so strong that she must do something about it.  The reactance cannot be ignored or put aside by her Master.  In particular, the slave is motivated to either "right the wrong" or to get around the restriction.  In other words, a slave with reactance will try to get the unfair restriction removed or they will try to subvert the restriction.

Another consequence of reactance at phase three is that the slave will tend to overvalue the action that was unfairly restricted.  In the study on detergents, housewives rated the phosphate-based detergent as a better cleaning product than the one without phosphates even though phosphates have no real chemical impact on cleaning.

When a slave exhibits reactance to rules, laws, or any other restriction and/or when she feels a loss of an important freedom she will:

Value the restricted behavior more

Want to engage in the restricted behavior more

Engage in a different behavior as a reaction to the restriction and this behavior is usually negative

Have hostility toward her Master for the restriction.

 

Four Actions a Master can take when confronted with Reactance

a) Brehm said that there is a feeling of "helplessness", when an important freedom is removed. This can be overcome if the slave feels she is confronted by an "insurmountable superior power."

 In addition, according to Brehm, the resistance can most often be overcome by applying "very high force" which is defined as a powerful force, but a less than insurmountable superior power.  The amount if force that is necessary to use is dictated by how important the freedom is to the slave.  The more important it is, the more force necessary to overcome and/or place the slave into a feeling of helplessness.

b) REBT can be used as well to identify the interfering belief and applying the A-B-C-D-E steps to it. Click her for more details on  REBT

c) "Choice Decision" Click her for more details on choicedecision.htm

 

 

(Brehm, J. (1966). "A Theory of Psychological Reactance" New York: Academic Press) and (Brehn, S. (1981). "Psychological Reactance: A Theory of Freedom and Control")

Also additional information can be found at  http://www.enslavement.org.uk/reactance.html