Another classic example concerns teen-age dating. Take a case where a daughter brings home a young man who is totally unacceptable to her father. Indeed, this is almost a cliche and everyone knows of an instance where a hardheaded parent literally drove a child into the arms of an undesirable partner. It may sound familiar. A state of reactance is activated.
Reactance is an intense motivational state.
A person with reactance is emotional, single-minded, and somewhat irrational. It arises because we have been wronged and we aren't gonna take it anymore. Reactance is important to understand because it has strong motivational properties and leads to the final stage. The person must act to remove the reactance. The motivational qualities of reactance are so strong that the person must do something about it.