Follow, Flex, and Flout: A Relational Frame Theory Account of Flexibility in the Context of Rule-Governed Behavior

TL;DR

This paper explores how flexibility in behavior, especially when following rules, can be understood using relational frame theory, with applications to health behaviors.

Contribution

The paper provides a novel conceptualization of behavioral flexibility through the lens of relational frame theory.

Findings

Flexibility in rule-governed behavior involves both following and deviating from rules based on context.

Relational frame theory offers a framework to understand how people adapt their behaviors in changing situations.

Applied examples connect the theory to real-world health behavior changes.

Abstract

Being able to change what we are doing when a behavior no longer serves us is important for our health and wellbeing. In the context of rule-governed behavior, changing one’s behavior in line with shifting contingencies is often described as being “flexible”, with many basic laboratory experiments operationalizing flexibility as deviations from a given rule that no longer results in reinforcement. And yet flexibility is not just about flouting rules; sometimes, being flexible means persisting. This paper unpacks flexibility in the context of rule-governed behavior from a relational frame theory perspective, outlining applied examples relevant to health behaviors.