TMatch - Therapeutic Reactance Scale

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Assessment of Client Resistance Using Part of the Therapeutic Reactance Scale

I enjoy seeing someone
else do something
that neither of us
is supposed to do

I enjoy playing
devil's advocate
whenever I can

If I am told what
to do, I often
do the opposite

I am sometimes
afraid to disagree
with others

If someone asks a
favor of me, I will think
twice about what this
person is really after

In discussions, I
am easily persuaded
by others

I am very stubborn
and set in my ways

I enjoy debates
with other people

I usually go along
with others'advice

I feel it is better to
stand up for what I
believe than to be silent

How This Assessment was Created

The Therapeutic Reactance Scale (TRS) (Dowd, Milne, & Wise, 1991) was recommended by Beutler and Harwood (2000, p.43) for measuring client resistance. This is a 28 question test developed to measure client reactance. Since there wasn't room in the client questionnaire for all 28 questions, it was decided to reduce the scale to 10 questions. Using factor analysis, Dowd et al. have separated the TRS into the two factors of behavioral reactance and verbal reactance. It was decided to select the five questions that had the highest factor loadings on each of these scales. This was done mainly by selecting all the questions that had a factor loading of 0.5 or higher on any factor. It turns out that there are exactly 5 questions that had factor loadings of 0.50 or higher on the behavioral reactance factor, and 4 questions on the verbal reactance factor. Therefore, one extra question was selected for the verbal reactance factor by choosing the next highest factor loading, which was 0.48.

References

Beutler, L. E., & Harwood, T. M. (2000). Prescriptive psychotherapy: A practical guide to systematic treatment selection. New York: Oxford University Press.

Dowd, E. T., Milne, C. R., & Wise, S. L. (1991). The Therapeutic Reactance Scale: A measure of psychological reactance. Journal of Counseling and Development, 69, 541-545.