Reactance

One of the problems Tanos and I have heard explained many times is the problem some Masters and slaves have dealing with what is termed "unslavelike thought or behaviour". It is something which causes a great deal of pain and suffering and has the potential to be extremely destructive both to the relationship and to the self esteem and confidence of the slave and the Master.

Often when restrictions on freedoms are imposed (generally) people feel a reaction to them. How big a reaction depends on how much value each individual puts on each particular freedom. Reactance is the involuntary internal response to a perceived increasing level of restriction to freedom. The sympotoms of which may vary.

For reactance to occur a combination of criteria must be met.

• There must be an increased level of restriction to freedom.
• That freedom must hold some degree of value for the person being restricted.
• The restriction must be perceived as being inescapable.

Alternatively, if he decided to lock me in the cell for 3 days and I was supposed to be at work on one of those days, then the degree of importance I place on my freedom at that point is quite significant. Couple this with the fact that I know that getting out of being locked in the cell is impossible, then I would experience symptoms of a much higher degree of reactance.

Reactance, though dramatic at times, is not always negative. Sub-space is a good example of being pushed beyond the peak of reactance. This state is often achieved through SM acts, to which many slaves show no resistance whatsoever.

Reactions
The show of "unslavelike" thoughts or behaviours are reactions. Reactions are simply responses to a stimulus (any stimulus). Reactions are part of reactance but they are not what reactance is.

Resistance
These reactions can sometimes be shows of resistance. Resistance is opposition to a physical (and sometimes non-physical) force. Since the reaction one has to increasing restrictions is not always one of resistance then reactance is not the same as resistance.

Psychological Reactance Theory explains those feelings and reactions experienced by many slaves when their freedom becomes restricted by a Master in an ownership based relationship. Whats-more it is perfectly clear that those feelings are natural, expected and have absolutely nothing to do with how "slavelike" a person is.

We have seen so many submissives accused of being "not true slaves" because they have suffered periods of reactance. Ironically what they are actually experiencing is a deep realisation that the Master has gained power in an area of their lives they value highly. They are internalising the reality of their enslavement.

Unfortunately, their experience of reactance causes many of them to question their need to be owned. If the owner addresses only the reaction [often with punishments] which increase restrictions the root cause of the reactions [reactance] is merely escalated. If the Master does not recognise his slaves behaviour as reactance he is less able to control and guide her over the peak of reactance into acceptance.
The Master and his slave will enters a spiral of increasing resistance and reactance which, more often than not, ends in the slave's release.

If we can accept (and we do accept) that once a slave has been through and over the peak of reactance into acceptance then they do not experience reactance again (to that specific restriction) when it is reapplied, then we can hypothesise that acceptance is transferable.

A slave with previous experience of restrictions to freedom may not experience reactance when that restriction is reapplied by another Master. Furthermore if the slave has previous relationships (including parental relationships) which imposes some kind of restriction on her freedoms then her experience of reactance may be so low that she will not experience any adverse reactions within it.

Conclusion:

• The amount of reactance a slave is likely to experience, when entering a M/s relationship, will vary dependant on the value she has placed on individual freedoms and whether she has experienced reactance [and ultimate acceptance] in prior relationships [including parental relationships.]
• The amount of reactance a slave may experience is completely independant of both her need and her potential for slavery.

It is feasable to say that not all slaves experience reactance in an M/s relationship although it would be true to say that reactance is a phenomena that all Masters should be aware of (and adequately prepared to deal with) simply because whether the slave does or does not experience reactance has no reflection on their ability to be enslaved.

The original "reactance to enslavement" essay appears in the essays section of the Internal Enslavement website.

lili (December 2000)