change and avoid the resistance and denial, or reactance, elicited by strong direct confrontation. Theory The theory of psychological reactance specifies what is considered a freedom, how said freedom can be taken away or threatened, and how the psychological reactance will manifest itself. Reactance theory aims to understand motive behind behaviors when freedom is threatened or eliminated. In this theory, with the removal of freedom, an individual will attempt to restore said freedom. Reactance in this case is now the manifestation of the behaviors aimed to restore freedom. When the freedom is completely eliminated, reactance becomes maximal, as the lost freedom becomes more desirable. Reactance theory assumes there are "free behaviors" individuals perceive and can take part in at any given moment. For a behavior to be free, the individual must have the relevant physical and psychological abilities to partake in it, and must know they can engage in it at the moment, or in the near future. "Behavior" includes any imaginable act. More specifically, behaviors may be explained as "what one does (or doesn't do)", "how one does something", or "when one does something". It is not always clear, to an observer, or the individuals themselves, if they hold a particular freedom to engage in a given behavior. When a person has such a free behavior they are likely to experience reactance whenever that behavior is restricted, eliminated, or threatened with elimination. There are several rules associated with free behaviors and reactance: Other core concepts of the theory are justification and legitimacy. A possible effect of justification is a limitation of the threat to a specific behavior or set of behaviors. For example, if Mr. Doe states that he is interfering with Mrs. Smith's expectations because of an emergency, this keeps Mrs Smith from imagining that Mr. Doe will interfere on future occasions as well. Likewise, legitimacy may point to a set of behaviors threatened since there will be a general assumption that an illegitimate interference with a person's freedom is less likely to occur. With legitimacy there is an additional implication that a person's freedom is equivocal. Effects In the phenomenology of reactance, there is no assumption that a person will be aware of reactance. When persons become aware of reactance, they will feel a higher level of self-direction in relationship to their own behaviour. In other words, they will feel that if they are able to do