Motivation Science, Vol 11(2), Jun 2025, 133-138; doi:10.1037/mot0000376
There has been a recent surge in psychological reactance theory (PRT) scholarship. After nearly 60 years, the theory still draws attention and guides useful research. Herein, we introduce a special issue dedicated to new empirical studies and theoretical advances. We begin by describing PRT’s core concepts and assumptions, followed by a brief overview of scholarship on PRT, which is organized in five overlapping waves. Interspersed with our description of these waves, we briefly summarize the nine articles that comprise this volume. These works represent contributions from four of the main waves of PRT scholarship—clinical psychology, communication, measurement, and motivation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)