Do we as humans naturally want to do the opposite of what were told?
 

The question is simple..Are we naturally more inclined to rebel against what were told not to do? Is one gender more prone to rebellion than the other? Whats your driving force behind your acting out if so? Just to show that you can or try an establish a reputation as such? Or is that just who you are? Maybe this is stupid but just something ive often been asked. So figured it might be interesting to see what others felt about it and why. Lock it up if its no good mods.

I doubt it. We are naturally inclined to behave in a way that best suits our purposes, desires, and goals, which may or may not align with what we are "told to do".

Even if were told not to because of someones assumption that were incompetent anyway?

It doesn't make any sense to me why that would be the case.

In my opinion, and from what I've learned, if I'm saying to myself "don't forget to.." or "don't step on that.." the "don't" part isn't registered. It sounds more like a demand to do that thing.. So I've forgotten things places, slipped on water puddles I told myself not to. I noticed that I behaved in a similar way with people (mostly parents/authority figures) saying "don't do drugs" and "don't stay up late," to me it might just be my brain causing a ruckus. Who knows. I might have just been mildly r-tarded at one point, but that's how a lot of **** went down.

I think what you are observing is a tendency for people to need to learn from their own mistakes.

I think that in most cases, no, at least not in general terms anyways. I think the main cases where you might see this is just when kids (mainly pre-teens and early teens) rebel against their parents. I remember I went through that phase of being a ****y little brat when I was like 11-12ish. Speaking personally, it was completely the establishing a reputation/peer pressure thing that was the driving force behind it. I was purposely not trying in school because that wasn't cool, I went through a rap phase, a punk phase, etc.

Also, I read an interesting stat in one of my classes this year that might pertain to this subject. In Canada, 20-24 year old males have almost 3 times the mortality rate of females. There's basically an even mortality rate at around 5 years old, then there's an upward trend reaching it's pinnacle in the early 20s, and then it swings back down, only settling at about a 3:2 ratio in the mid-40s. Many factors at play here obviously, but it's probably at least a small indicator of guys being more reckless (AKA doing what they're told not to do), especially in the teens and early 20s.

similar things happen to me like that also.

I agree, that's exactly what is happening. I would rather learn from my own mistakes/experiences than just go off of the advice of someone else unless it's a very severe situation like life or death type thing.

you may be the rebel
 

If you think it maybe natural iassume you do alot of things your told not to and as a result you seek axcuses to make it ok for self benifit to make you feel ok and less guilty,

its personality traits,

but its the same as seeing "WET PAINT DO NOT TOUCH" the % of people who touch ispretty high, so there is an urge to rebel and excite,

more stiulate more than others,

i do ramble on!

James.

i think it's what I've been told not to do that is the main concern

if it's reasonable i won't do it

but i've rebelled now and then (and sometimes even against the law)

Yeah the wet paint do not touch was a great example...Kind of like in an argument and or just regular discussion of something. Then someone telling you to shut your mouth. The natural reaction is to not for most. Or maybe something work wise your superior says not to do but you know your way is better...I think maybe for some its just the lack of ever growing up..like in my case. I heard in a song one time the line said.."all alone in a room somewhere with a button that says danger do not touch!...Twice a day id mash it down and you could watch me self destruct"

To me those are two very different examples. I'm not going to touch wet paint because I don't want paint on my hand. The person who put that sign there is being helpful to me. In contrast, a person who, during an argument, tells me to shut my mouth is not trying to be helpful at all, they are trying to be controlling. Something like that is bound to piss me off and, yes, will lead me to do the opposite of what I'm told to do.

See I would touch the wet paint just because it says "Do not touch" Almost like the forbidden fruit in the garden of eden scenario. (Just an example dont want to go the religion beleifs/disbeleifs route) For some it seems a lot of things are only fun because they are frowned upon. The second they are approved it loses its appeal. So if someone in the midst of arguing decided to reverse the roll and said.."ok say what you got to say..let me have it" Then that would counteract the urge to engage any further into the argument. Unless you suspect that was their intention all along anyways was to use the reverse treatment just to get you to shutup. Depends on how well you know the person or how good you are at reading people in general. I dont think their always has to be a defining reason for this behavior. Other than some simply chose to act in that manner simply just because. Certain situations definatley intensify the trait but its really just a dominant characteristic anyway for some. If the sign said "touch wet paint" Then no..there would be no touching of the wet paint. Of course there are different extremes and degree's of this tendicie for each individual. But do you think one gender is more prone to this kind of behavior than the other? Drawing the line of course at inflicting harm or the breaking of laws that could land you in prison.

Haha, wow, you'd really touch wet paint just to contradict a sign? I can't relate to that. But anyway, no, I don't think going against the grain for its own sake is more common in one gender than the other, though there's certainly a stereotype that men do it more.

I agree with this, one of the reasons that I stopped drinking at bars/clubbing as much when I turned 21. It just lost it's appeal from when I was 18+ getting into 21+ places with just a wave of my "ID". So, for those three years I burned myself out pretty much and also when I was able to just walk in and be legal in there. Meh it just wasn't as appealing to me anymroe.

I'm totally touching that wet paint even if it's just poking it with the tip of my finger.

Is it natural for humans? i wouldn't say it's natural...but humans seem to be the only ones who do go against the warning. Maybe it's because we have a different intelligence than other species. A rationality that leads to curiosity and rebellious opinion.
You certainly don't see antelope signaling to it's herd "hey there's a pride of lions around the corner, DON'T GO THERE" and his buddy antelope says "aw screw that, I'm going to check it out".

his buddy antelope sounds like gilbert godfrey btw.

So if you see this:

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/gif/...ger_poison.gif

are you compelled to take a sip?

I don't know about that. I swear my cat does things specifically because she knows she's not supposed to.

of course not as I stated in one of my earlier responses, if it's something that's detrimental to my health, of course I won't do it.

I think it completely has to do with the situation. I'm not going to say that (to cite an earlier example) I'm going to touch wet paint just to contradict a sign warning against touching the wet paint; I know what the outcome's going to be. Either the paint has dried, or I'm going to get paint on my fingertip. There'd be no point to contradict the sign.

If someone tells me not to do something / to do something, there are times I'm inclined to do the opposite of what they tell me. It's not really for rebellion. The way I see it, they have their reasons for wanting me / not wanting me to do something. That's fine. If it's something that doesn't appeal to me or doesn't fit what I would like to do to achieve my own personal desired outcome, I'll generally do the opposite. It's not even so much to challenge them; I just figure that if it's not something life threatening or something to me or anyone else, then I can make my own judgment on the matter and go about doing it the way I would have done without their input.

Like, if someone tells me, "Don't spend all of your money this weekend," there's a good chance that I'll still do it. The reason being that it's my money, doesn't affect the person who's telling me not to spend it in any way, and is ultimately my call. If I know that I could safely spend all of my money in a weekend without any negative effects to me or others in the future, you can bet like hell I'm going to do it.

If someone's offering me constructive criticism or anything like that, though, I really do listen and take everything they say into consideration. If it's merely a condemnation of something I'd like to do, I don't really listen so much.

your cat does those things because her learning brain goes up to the equivalent of a 2-3 yo human child. if you tell a 2 yo kid not to do something they are not supposed to do , they will do it regardless of what you say.

:rofl::rofl:....thats funny..I would like to see that on discovery channel sometime.
No..nobody is gonna do that I dont think. Nobody of sound mind anyway

It meant that as more of a joke/rhetorical question.

No, I think it's more than that. It's not like she just does whatever she does regardless of my reaction, she does certain things because of my reaction.

I would assume the same thing about a wet paint sign but apparently, as I'm learning from this thread, there are still people who touch the paint.

yes, she is spiteful just like a little kid is. That's basically what I was trying to say, I may have worded it weirdly.

So how is that different from people who deliberately do things they've been told not to do just because they don't like being told "no"?

Spite is a quality people of all different ages seem to have. Not just a specific age group in my experience. Most adults are rather fond of this charateristic.

Not just people either.

true :) I specifically told Penelope NOT to touch the curtains in here. Now they are full of torn holes. As if she can't understand English or something. She's also fluent in German. Meöwz

I once gave my cat a saucer of milk and told her not to puke it up. Guess what.

I think it stems from people wanting to prove things wrong, that way they can smugly walk away knowing that they are smarter than signs.