Rebound of thoughts after thought suppression is widely documented. Much less is known about the effects of suppression on rebound of behavior. The current studies show that suppressing thoughts (Experiment 1 and 2) and suppressing behavior (Experiment 3) may cause rebound of behavior. In Experiment 1 suppressing thoughts of thirst rebounded in enhanced drinking, in Experiment 2 suppressing aggressive thoughts rebounded in subsequent aggression, and in Experiment 3 suppressing laughter rebounded in enhanced subsequent laughing. Supporting the Motivational Inference Model of postsuppressional rebound, the studies show that behavioral rebound is reduced if participants are led to believe that suppression is difficult for everybody (Experiments 1 and 2). Also consistent with this model is the finding that motivation to do the suppressed behavior mediated rebound (Experiment 3). The implications for rebound of unwanted behaviors are discussed.
Arndt, J., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Pyszczynski, T., & Simon L. ( 1997). Suppression, accessibility of death-related thoughts, and cultural worldview defense: Exploring the psychodynamics of terror management . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 5-18.
2.
Baron, R.M., & Kenny, D.A. ( 1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
3.
Blanchard, F.A., Crandall, C.S., Brigham, J.C., & Vaughn, L.A. ( 1994). Condemning and condoning racism: A social context approach to interracial settings, Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 993-997.
4.
Boon, B., Stroebe, W., Schut, H., & Ijntema, R. ( 2002). Ironic processes in the eating behaviour of restrained eaters. British Journal of Health Psychology, 7, 1-10.
5.
Brehm, J.W. ( 1966). A theory of psychological reactance. New York, NY: Academic Press.
6.
Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention. ( 1995). The International Affective Picture System: Digitized photographs. Gainesville: University of Florida, Center for Research in Psychophysiology.
7.
Clark, D.M., Ball, S., & Pape, D. ( 1991). An experimental investigation of thought suppression . Behaviour Research & Therapy, 29, 253-257.
8.
Clark, D.M., Winton, E., & Thynn, L. ( 1993). A further experimental investigation of thought suppression . Behaviour Research & Therapy,31, 207-210.
9.
Crandall, C.S., Eshleman, A., & O’Brien, L.T. (2002). Social norms and the expression and suppression of prejudice: The struggle for internalization . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 359-378.
10.
Davies, M.I., & Clark, D.M. ( 1998). Thought suppression produces rebound effect with analogue post-traumatic intentions. Behaviour Research & Therapy , 36, 571-582.
11.
Denzler, M., Förster, J., & Liberman, N. ( 2009). How goal-fulfillment decreases aggression. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 90-100.
12.
Dijksterhuis, A., & Bargh, J.A. ( 2001). The perception-behavior expressway: Automatic effects of social perception on social behavior. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 33, pp. 1-40). San Diego, CA : Academic Press.
13.
Fazio, R.H. ( 1990). A practical guide to the use of response latencies in social psychological research. In C. Hendrick & M. S. Clark (Eds.), Research methods in personality and social psychology (pp. 74-97). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
14.
Fishbach, A., Friedman, R.S., & Kruglanski, A.W. (2003). Leading us not unto temptation: Momentary allurements elicit overriding goal activation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 296-309.
15.
Förster, J., & Liberman, N. ( 2001). The role of attribution of motivation in producing post-suppressional rebound. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 377-390.
16.
Förster, J., & Liberman, N. ( 2004). A motivational model of postsuppressional rebound. In W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European review of social psychology (Vol. 15, pp. 1-32). Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
17.
Geen, R.G. ( 1994). Human motivation: A social psychological approach. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
18.
Guitnote, A. ( 2007). Power and the suppression of unwanted thoughts: Does control over others decrease control over the self? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 433-440.
19.
Heider, F. ( 1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
20.
Ito, T.A., Cacioppo, J.T., & Lang, P.J. ( 1998). Eliciting affect using the International Affective Picture System: Trajectories through evaluative space. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 855-879.
21.
James, W. ( 1890). The principles of psychology. New York, NY: Holt.
22.
Kelly, H.H. ( 1972). Causal schemata and the attribution process. In E. E. Jones, D. E. Kanouse, H. H. Kelley, R. E. Nisbett, S. Valins , & B. Weiner (Eds.), Attribution: Perceiving the causes of behavior (pp. 151-174). Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press.
23.
Kelly, A.E., & Kahn, J.H. ( 1994). Effects of suppression of personal intrusive thoughts . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 998-1006.
24.
Koole, S., & van Knippenberg, A. (2007). Controlling your mind without ironic consequences: Self-affirmation eliminates rebound effects after thought suppression. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 43, 671-677.
25.
Liberman, N., & Förster, J. (2000). Expression after suppression: A motivational explanation of post-suppressional rebound. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 190-203.
26.
Liberman, N., & Förster, J. (2005). Motivation and construct accessibility. In J. P. Forgas, K. D. Kipling, & S. M. Laham (Eds.), Social motivation: Conscious and unconscious processes (pp. 228-248). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
27.
Luoma, J., & Hayes, S.C. ( 2003). Cognitive defusion. In W. T. O’Donohue, J. E. Fisher , & S. C. Hayes (Eds.), Empirically supported techniques of cognitive behavior therapy: A step by step guide for clinicians. (pp. 181-188). New York, NY: Wiley.
28.
Macrae, C.N., Bodenhausen, G.V., & Milne, A.B. ( 1998). Saying no to unwanted thoughts: Self-focus and the regulation of mental life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 74, 578-589.
29.
Macrae, C.N., Bodenhausen, G.V., Milne, A.B., & Jetten, J. ( 1994). Out of mind but back in sight: Stereotypes on the rebound . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 808-817.
30.
Monteith, M.J., Sherman, J.W., & Devine, P.G. ( 1998). Supression as a stereotype control strategy. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2, 63-82.
31.
Monteith, M.J., Spicer, C.V., & Tooman, G.D. ( 1998). Consequences of stereotype suppression: Stereotypes on AND not on the rebound. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 34, 355-377.
32.
Mussweiler, T., & Förster, J. (2000). The sex → aggression link: A perception-behavior dissociation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 507-520.
33.
Olson, J. M., & Zanna, M. P. (Eds.). (1990). Self-inference processes: The Ontario Symposium (Vol. 6). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
34.
Palfai, T.P., Monti, P.M., Colby, S.M., & Rohsenow, D.J. (1997). Effects of suppressing the urge to drink on the accessibility of alcohol outcome expectancies. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35, 59-65.
35.
Purdon, C., & Clark, D.A. ( 1999). Meta-cognition in obsessive compulsive disorders. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 6, 102-110.
36.
Rachman, S. ( 1998). A cognitive theory of obsessions: Elaborations. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 385-401.
37.
Salkovskis, P.M., & Reynolds, M. ( 1994). Thought suppression and smoking cessation. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 32, 193-201.
38.
Schwarz, N. ( 1990). Feelings as information: Informational and motivational functions of affective states. In E. T. Higgins & R. Sorrentino (Eds.), Handbook of motivation and cognition: Foundations of social behavior (Vol. 2, pp. 527-561). New York, NY: Guilford.
39.
Schwarz, N., Bless, H., Strack, F., Klumpp, G., Rittenauer-Schatka, H., & Simons, A. ( 1991). Ease of retrieval as information: Another look at the availability heuristic. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 195-202.
40.
Shafran, R., & Rachman, S. ( 2004). Thought-action fusion: A review. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 35, 87-107.
41.
Shafran, R., Thordarson, D.S., & Rachman, S. ( 1996). Thought- action fusion in obsessive compulsive disorder . Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 10, 379-391.
42.
Smart, L., & Wegner,D.M. ( 1999). Covering up what can’t be seen: Concealable stigma and mental control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 77, 474-486.
43.
Toll, B.A., Sobell, M.B., Wagner, E.F., & Sobell, L.C. ( 2001). The relationship between thought suppression and smoking cessation. Addictive Behaviors, 26, 509-515.
Wegner, D.M., Ansfield, M., & Pilloff, D. ( 1998). The putt and the pendulum: Ironic effects of the mental control of action. Psychological Science, 9, 196-199.
46.
Wegner, D.M., & Gold, D.G. ( 1995). Fanning old flames: Emotional and cognitive effects of suppressing thought of past relationship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 782-792.
47.
Wegner, D.M., Schneider, D.J., Carter, S.R., & White, T.L. ( 1987). Paradoxical effects of thought suppression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 5-13.
48.
Wegner, D.M., & Wenzlaff, R.M. (1996). Mental control. In E. T. Higgins & A. W. Kruglanski (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (pp. 466-492). New York, NY: Guilford.
49.
Wenzlaff, R.M., & Bates, D.E. ( 1998). Unmasking a cognitive vulnerability to depression: How lapses in mental control reveal depressive thinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1559-1571.
50.
Wenzlaff, R.M., & Luxton, D.D. ( 2003). The role of thought suppression in depressive rumination . Cognitive Therapy and Research, 27, 293-308.
51.
Wenzlaff, R.M., & Wegner, D.M. ( 2000). Thought suppression. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 59-91.
