People sometimes do the exact opposite of what someone is trying to persuade them to do. For example, when parents tell their children not to look in certain drawers or cabinets, children sometimes take a sneak peek into these areas just because they were told not to. In social psychology, this effect is known as "the boomerang effect," or ____.

Question

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The boomerang effect refers to situations where attempts to persuade result in the opposite of the intended change, often strengthening pre-existing attitudes or behaviors contrary to what is being persuaded. This is known as negative attitude change when the persuasion attempt causes a person to adopt a more negative stance than they originally held.

People Sometimes Do the Exact Opposite of What Someone Is