Resistance to Change

1
Resistance to Change

• By Arlene Huerta
• Zachary Rodriguez
• Michael Melendez

2
Definition

• The tendency to cling to preconceived notions, to
  set ways of viewing and doing things.
• To react to beliefs, values, and attitudes that
  challenge our own with self-righteous contempt.

3
Danger Signals

• Reaction Formation an immediate, strong, and
  emotional reaction against something.
• Primary Certitude To ignore or out rightly
  reject new facts and information that contradicts
  preconceived notions

4
Example

• An example of primary certitude can happen to any
  consumer while reading magazines, newspapers, or
  watching television. A magazine article contained
  a medical advertisement for Cymbalta, a drug to
  treat depression. The advertisement pictures a
  young woman wearing pajamas, looking sad and
  defeated. Across the picture, the advertisement
  says Depression hurts. Cymbalta can help.

5
Primary Certitude

• The consumer may associate a few listed symptoms
  similar to his own and has a preconceived notion
  this medication is going to help by taking the
  medication.
• Their mind is already made up by the time they
  get to their doctor and their primary certitude
  reaction is to believe the advertisement is a
  fact.

6
Solutions

• Stop to do the research and fully comprehend the
  pros and cons of what the pharmaceutical
  companies are telling you.
• Stop and think about it, ask questions
• Why do we need a pharmaceutical company telling
  us what to do?
• Shouldnt we trust our personal physician who
  knows our history and current medications?

7
Medium (Advertising)

• The danger is these ads are too assertive and
  its not telling the consumer they should
  probably undergo testing to see if such
  medication is really necessary.
• The ads are becoming lengthier and the
  pharmaceutical companies are encouraging you to
  call your doctor and ask for the specific
  medication.
• Youre being encouraged to become your own
  physician and diagnose yourself and will not
  listen to a doctors concerns.

8
Example

• People who are passionately committed to a
  certain religious or political affiliation often
  fall victim to their resistance to change. My
  father, for instance, is an excellent example of
  reaction formation. Whenever we are watching the
  news and a Democratic (or any other) politician
  says something that is contrary to his
  conservative Republican ideology, he reacts
  angrily and yells at the television, as if the
  person could hear him. He avoids programs such as
  the Daily Show which often poke fun at Republican
  politicians, and even sometimes goes as far as to
  avoid people who hold different beliefs than him.

9
Reaction Formation

• My father displays an outright repellence of
  unwanted information and strong emotions against
  them (reaction formation).
• Resistance to change may also cause someone to
  twist or spin new information in a way that fits
  with their already existing opinions.
• Finds a way for the new information to fit an old
  paradigm.

10
Solutions

• A critical thinker welcomes new information to
  analyze and evaluate, while resistance to change
  avoids new, threatening information.
• A critical thinker connects new information to
  what they already know, however in doing so, the
  critical thinker is open to challenge what he
  already believes

11
Medium (The Media)

• The spinning and twisting of information in such
  a way is very prevalent in media made for a
  specific political or religious affiliation (such
  as National Review) and in politics in general.
• In fact, wherever there is a strong bias,
  especially within a group, resistance to change
  usually accompanies it.