Aversion To The Solution: A Very Common Behavior

” Climate change does not exist, it is a fabrication of a group of stakeholders” , ” Poor people are poor because they do not want to work and are not capable of raising themselves up” , ” I do not have any health problems, therefore , I can continue with my sedentary life and eating whatever I want ” . Such drastic reasoning defines a type of mental scheme that is defined as “solution aversion.”

We have all encountered such extreme arguments at times that leave us bewildered and, moreover, almost always generate a certain despair. How can there be people who deny such clear evidence? Even today there are still, to our surprise, inveterate negativists about the risks of tobacco or the consumption of certain drugs.

This is a phenomenon that has always interested the world of psychology. People who are opposed to giving for certain hard evidence and clearly demonstrated by science have always existed and, sadly, they will. Furthermore, in recent years, in the midst of all the social climate we are experiencing, aversion to the solution further increases the polarization between various political sectors.

It was in 2014 when psychologists Troy Campbell and Aron Kay, from the University of Oregon, investigated this phenomenon and gave it its name. Let us, therefore, delve a little deeper into this topic.

Solution aversion: when I don’t like solutions, I deny the problem

An obvious example of what aversion to the solution entails is seen in those who deny the incidence of climate change. It does not matter that the sea levels and its temperature have risen or that the meteorological phenomena are each year more extreme. Neither is desertification or the loss of certain ecosystems relevant.

The denial of climate change often starts from a concrete fact: the solutions that are proposed to slow its progress are not liked. Much of them happen, among other things, to curb the consumption of fossil fuels. It implies neither more nor less than changing the model of industry, production and our lifestyle, after all.

Therefore, if I do not like the solutions, my reaction will always be to question the problem. The climate change thing is up to the alarmists. Not only is a denialist approach taken, but in many cases it is also chosen to adopt an offensive or contemptuous attitude towards those who defend the evidence.

We can see the same in those who, for example, are opposed to changing their lifestyle or quitting smoking even after having suffered a heart attack. ” You have to die of something!” they point out, “After all, my father smoked his entire life and passed away at 95!”

When my ideology does not allow me to accept your solutions

Troy Campbell and Aron Kay, the psychologists who coined this term 6 years ago, explained in their research that, on average, we can find two dynamics in the theory of solution aversion.

• There are those who do not assume this coping strategy because it does not fit into their personal ideology.
• On the other hand, there are those who do not accept them because they go against their needs, tastes or interests.

The first is the most common and the one that most often draws our attention in political settings. In the United States, for example, it is a tradition for the Republican party to always oppose aspects such as taking actions to curb climate change or the need to prohibit or regulate the arms market.

Doing so would go against your private interests, making it easier to deny the problem. On the other hand, the Democratic party often stands out as that social and political nucleus that advocates a change on these aspects.

Aversion to the solution because I don’t want to accept the problem

Daniel, 15, has been diagnosed with diabetes and refuses to accept the problem. The idea of ​​having to take insulin or regulate the consumption of candy makes him desperate and he opposes it.

Natalia, 69, has just been diagnosed with an eye disease and her driving license is not going to be renewed. She denies the problem, insists that having the problem in only one eye does not pose any limitation and that she can continue driving.

We could give many more examples of this type of behavior and reactions that people apply when we do not like the resulting strategies in the face of a problem. We do not like them because they change our lifestyle and, faced with this, it is inevitable to experience fear, anger and frustration.

Solution aversion is more common than we think. However, it is still a mechanism that in many cases hinders our coexistence, our ability to move forward as a society, being able to see the same problems in order to act together.

Behind all gaze there will always be particular interests, but being able to relativize them from time to time can allow us to reach those necessary agreements with which we all win. Let’s keep it in mind.