ABSTRACT
Reversal theory, as developed by Apter, offers another insight into why associations are effective, in this case associations tied to excitement and relaxation.1
Reversal theory is a branch of structural phenomenology. Phenomenological psychology seeks to understand the significance or meaning of social phenomena from the perspective of the individual. In phenomenology, the reality of interest is what people perceive it to be. To give a phenomenological account of Y is to say how Y is experienced by some person or group. Structural phenomenology accepts as a given that subjective experience does not consist of a ‘blooming, buzzing mass’ of unrelated items and events but forms a meaningful, coherent structure for thinking, feeling and doing. In structural phenomenology, the interest lies in the ways in which experience can be structured and how the structuring of that experience changes over time.
