Is There Such a Thing as Reverse Psychology

As little children, we were frequently admonished by our parents to “eat our vegetables.” After the broccoli sits on our plate for a half hour, our exasperated parents decide to take control of the situation. “Fine,” they say. “Don’t eat your vegetables. I bet you can’t finish your plate anyway.” Defiantly, we shove all the vegetables in our mouths, chew, and swallow. It is not that we’re happy we ate the vegetables—more so that we’ve emerged victorious over what we’ve been told not to do. Meanwhile, our parents have actually claimed victory over us using the tactic commonly known as reverse psychology.