Syllabus Sanctions: Controlling Language and Fairness as Antecedents to Students’ Psychological Reactance and Intent to Comply

Psychological reactance theory (PRT) has helped explain students’ resistant behavior. Additionally, several studies have explored resistant student behaviors as a product of an instructor’s syllabus policies. To build upon this line of research, a 2 × 2 experiment was conducted manipulating controlling language (low, high) and fairness (fair, unfair) within a syllabus policy. To increase external validity, the page on which the policy was located was drawn from an actual communication course. Controlling language and fairness had an interactive effect on perceived threat to freedom, reactance, and intent to comply. Specifically, freedom threat and reactance were lower and intent to comply was greater when the policy was fair and used low controlling language than when the policy was unfair and/or used high controlling language. The effect of freedom threat on intent to comply was mediated by reactance.