1983 年 54 巻 5 号 p. 300-306
The present study was designed to investigate the effects of the amount of threat to freedom and the presence or absence of opinion expression on resistance to persuasion and its reduction in the repeated persuasion situations. This experiment focused on the subject whose initial attitude was in line with the position presented in the persuasive communication. Two factors were involved in this experiment, i.e., the amount of threat (high or low), and the expression of opinion (opinion expressed, or not), which constituted, then, a 2×2 before-after factorial design. The results showed that in the high threat condition reactance effects were reduced only among subjects who expressed their opinion in the first communication. In contrast, in the low threat condition positive attitude change was induced regardless of the opinion expression. The results were discussed in terms of the theory of psychological reactance. However, some doubt remained as to the validity of its basic propositions.