“Why is it that a child sometimes does the opposite of what he is told? Why would a person sometimes dislike receiving a favor? Why is propaganda frequently ineffective in persuading people? And why would the grass in the adjacent pasture ever appear greener?”
We all know a contrarian. The one who is against whatever everyone else is for.
This is psychological reactance.
Psychological reactance manifests itself when someone feels the urge to resist what they’re being asked, influenced, or persuaded to do (or believe). It manifests itself when people do the thing that they are being asked not to do.
And it manifests itself when they refuse to do the thing they are asked to do.
This phenomenon is especially potent when it comes to things where people feel they may be losing some measure of freedom.
Related is the “Streisand effect.” That is, attempts to conceal information tend to increase people’s desire to know more about it, which can ultimately bring about its revelation.
We always want what we can’t have.
This is what makes propaganda so ineffective.
And everyone has a different degree of built-in psychological reactance. What works for one, might not work for the other.
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Carrying the Gun 