Change often meets with resistance, such as during reorganisations or when we are asked to eat less meat. Researchers at Radboud University investigated this resistance and identified twelve reasons why people resist change. They also developed a scale to measure why people resist a specific change. ‘It is important to take people’s concerns about change seriously.’
Almost all change is difficult: adapting your lifestyle, a reorganisation at work, or starting to use gender-neutral language. When behavioural change is required, resistance is therefore often encountered. As a result, it can sometimes take a very long time for a change to be accepted – and sometimes it doesn’t happen at all. It is therefore important to understand where that resistance comes from, according to Radboud University communication scientist Marieke Fransen. Fransen and her colleagues investigated this and identified twelve reasons.
Twelve reasons
‘People who resist change are often dismissed as difficult, but that resistance often stems from entirely legitimate concerns,’ says Fransen. ‘For example, people are sometimes afraid that the change won’t work, or that they don’t have the right skills to adapt their behaviour, or that the change will restrict their freedom. It is important for organisations, managers and communications officers to understand these concerns. Then you can address them.’
The researchers developed a measurement tool called the ‘Reasons for Resistance to Change Scale (RRCS)’. The RRCS consists of 36 questions that can be used to measure exactly why people feel resistance to a particular change. The researchers identify the following twelve reasons:
1. Doubts about effectiveness: people are not convinced that the proposed change will work.
2. Lack of personal relevance: the change does not seem relevant or in the interests of those affected.
3. Ethical objections: the proposed change goes against their principles.
4. Lack of autonomy: the feeling that the change will restrict their freedom or their ability to make their own choices.
5. Fear of social judgement: fear that others will think less of them.
6. Doubts about those driving the change: questions about the competence of the people implementing the change.
7. Preference for the status quo: people are satisfied with the situation as it is.
8. Uncertainty about their own abilities: fear that they will not be able to successfully adapt to the change themselves.
9. Effort: the change requires too much time or effort.
10. Lack of inclusion: a feeling of having too little influence on decision-making.
11. Entitlement: people find the change unfair or feel they deserve better.
12. Fear of the unknown: uncertainty about what is about to happen creates an unpleasant feeling.
To measure is to know
To develop the measurement tool, researchers used data from questionnaires completed by 2,341 participants from the United States and the United Kingdom.
‘With many changes, people say they feel they have too little autonomy, so that reason comes up frequently,’ said Fransen. ‘But beyond that, the reasons why people oppose a particular change vary widely.’ For example, in the case of a new vaccine, ‘fear of the unknown’ scored very highly within the study population, whilst people who resist the idea of eating less meat primarily prefer the status quo and do not feel that this change is personally relevant to them.
‘If you know which reasons are the main causes of resistance, you can take appropriate action,’ according to the researcher. ‘If people are wondering whether the change will actually be effective, you can share convincing evidence of this with them through clear communication. And if people are afraid that they themselves do not have enough skills to make the change, you can offer support or training.’ Sometimes the solution does not lie in communication, but rather in adjusting the change itself, making it easier for those involved to accept. For example, if people feel excluded from the decision-making process, it may be a good idea to give them a say after all.
‘There will always be resistance,’ says Fransen. ‘That’s not a bad thing. Resistance can actually help us achieve something better. But rather than speculating about why people aren’t on board with a particular change, it’s better to measure it.’
This research was made possible in part by a grant from the Centre for Strategic Communication, Logeion. See also the previously published white paper (in Dutch): https://www.logeion.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/20250602_csc_whitepaper_05_WHITEPAPER-2.pdf
Literature reference: Fransen, M. L., Vandeberg, L., & Denkers, A. (2026). 12 reasons why people resist change: Development of the reasons for resistance to change scale (RRCS). Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2026.2741816.
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by External Contributor via Digital Information World
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