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From "Reversal Theory: The Dynamics of Emotion, Motivation and Personality"

Chapter 6 : The Experience of Rules

Negativistic and Conformist States
...Another important component of the experience of motivation ... concerns whether one sees what one is trying to do as in accordance with, or contrary to, some rule or set of rules to behave in a certain way. The term “rule” here is to be understood in the most general sense as any pressure to conform.It should be taken to include not only explicit rules or orders, but also conventions, routines, customs, habits, expectations, rituals, and so on.The issue here is whether one wants to be compliant or defiant, docile or rebellious, malleable or stubborn, easy or awkward. Is one following the rules or breaking them, being “good”or being “bad”? Is one doing what one is supposed to do, or not?...

The Power of Negative Thinking
On the face of it, negativism is liable to cause nothing but disruption, destruction, and distress. So where did it come from? Why do human beings appear to be programmed with the capacity to spend periods of time in the negativistic state and to display such behavior? Presumably it must serve some personal and social functions, otherwise it would not have survived the exigencies of natural selection during evolution. ... more