They may take our lives, but they will never take our freedom!
Nothing gets our hackles up more than being told that we have no choice over something.
I call it the Braveheart effect.
It can be triggered by being told ourpersonalityorgendermeans we will necessarily act in a certain way.
Anything that makes us feel our freedom is threatened awakens powerful forces.
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We mentally rail against whatever or whoever threatens our freedom.
What we have been pushed into tastes bitter.
What we have lost smells sweeter.
We then act to restore our sense of freedom.
We may do what we were told not to.
We may also confound predictions.
What affects the Braveheart effect?
This effect only tends to occur if we feel capable ofrestoring our freedom.
Otherwise we rationalize our actions (Oh, thats what I wanted to do anyway).
If the Braveheart effect occurs, its strength depends on a number of factors.
First, the more we sense an actual person is thwarting our freedom,the greater the effect is.
Second, the effect depends on how the message restricting our freedom is phrased.
Third, it depends on who you are.
The extent to which you experience the effect isa personality trait.
Some people are more disposed to experience the Braveheart effect than others.
Finally, culture plays a role.
In contrast, people from more collectivist cultures (such as China)show the opposite pattern.
Deeper questions
But why do we experience the Braveheart effect?
He proposes that natural selection favored those who responded to such attempts with righteous anger.
Those experiencing the Braveheart effect would be less likely to lose out on food and mates.
Why is the Braveheart effect important?
One reason we need to know about this effect is so we can recognize when we are experiencing it.
As we become aware of this, the Braveheart effect may be triggered.
When does a nudge become a shove?
(Credit: Shutterstock)
Take the revelation thatFacebook data was being used to manipulate users.
Public realization of this clearly triggered the Braveheart effect in many.
Some will have leapt to #deleteFacebook.
Yet, as using Facebook has bothprosand cons, the decision to delete it needsreflective consideration.
For example, knowledge of the Braveheart effect can be used against us.
Companies take a stab at develop adverts that dont trigger it.
They dont want you pushing back against their message.
They know to start adverts byinoculating us againstthe Braveheart effect.
They do this by forewarning us of a potential threat to choice.
They also know the Braveheart effect is reduced if their advert helps us taketheir perspectiveand toempathize with them.
Yet even the dictates of reason cantrigger the Braveheart effectin us.
As the novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky observed, we may sometimes value freedom over everything else.
Is freedom a means to an end, or an end in itself?
