Countercontrol: A Relational Frame Theory (RFT) Account and Revival of a 70-Year-Old Skinnerian Term
Countercontrol is learned, verbal, and predictable—shape the rule, not just the reinforcer.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Spencer and colleagues dust off Skinner’s 1950s term “countercontrol.”
They re-cast it through Relational Frame Theory (RFT).
The paper is pure theory—no kids, no data, just a new way to see why people fight back against control.
What they found
Countercontrol is not simple rebellion.
It is rule-governed behavior that emerges when a person relates “If I let you boss me, then bad things happen” and “If I refuse, I stay safe.”
Those relations are learned, verbal, and can spread to new settings without direct training.
How this fits with other research
Hake (1982) begged us to study human social-verbal behavior in the lab first. Spencer answers that call by showing how RFT can model one kind of social push-back.
McComas et al. (2025) warn that ABA can show ableism—subtle control that clients resist. Spencer’s lens says that resistance is not naughtiness; it is rule-governed countercontrol shaped by the client’s own relational history.
Hugh-Pennie et al. (2022) want culturally relevant ABA. Spencer’s frame gives you a tool: check the rules the learner is deriving about your program (“This is white-centered”) and re-frame them before countercontrol starts.
Why it matters
You can now treat defiance as data about derived rules instead of non-compliance. Ask, “What story is the learner telling themself about my instructions?” Then change the story, not just the consequence. Monday test: before giving a demand, prime a new rule—“When you finish this, you get to pick the next task.” Countercontrol drops when the rule flips from threat to partnership.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Countercontrol is a Skinnerian operant concept that posits that an individual’s attempts to exert control over another person’s behavior may evoke a countercontrolling response from the person being controlled that functions to avoid or escape the potentially aversive conditions generated by the controller. Despite Skinner’s historical concerns regarding the detrimental effects of countercontrol in terms of hindering optimal societal growth and cultural evolution, the concept has not been widely applied within behavior analysis. Drawing from recent developments in rule-governed behavior and relational frame theory, this article seeks to explicate countercontrol from a contemporary behavior analytic perspective and presents several modern-day societal applications. In particular, a relational frame theory account of rule-governed behavior is used as a framework to elucidate the behavioral processes by which rule-following occurs (or fails to occur) in the context of countercontrol. Implications of a renewed focus on countercontrol for understanding pressing societal issues are also discussed.
Perspectives on Behavior Science, 2022 · doi:10.1007/s40614-022-00337-y