THE USE OF CANCELLATION AS A FORM OF COERCION FROM A BEHAVIORAL ANALYTICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The objective of this work is to analyze, from the functional analysis of behavior, occurrences of the so-called "digital cancellation", defined as withdrawal of support for a certain public figure as a consequence of the disapproval of some attitude, speech and/or positioning of the person in digital media. It is hypothesized that this phenomenon is an attempt at coercive control. Based on this, three cases of "cancellation" of digital influencers were analyzed: Bruno Aiub, Gabriela Pugliesi and Leonardo de Lima Borges Lins. The analysis methodology was the contingency analysis associated with the theoretical discussion of behavioral basis, through which the following contingencies of the cases of "cancellation" were identified: the variation of the consumer public; the content of comments on publications; and legal and financial measures. Such contingencies served as analyzers of the consequences of the behaviors of the "canceled". From this analysis, it is concluded that there is inconsistency in the application of aversive consequences, as well as the continuity of behaviors similar to the "canceled" in two of the three cases analyzed. Thus, "digital cancellation" can be understood as a coercive action, controlled by consequences other than behavioral change, with unpredictable results in the behavior of those who are canceled and with the incidence of side effects that maintain the behavioral pattern targeted by the "cancellation".