Principlev1
Expect social extinction bursts when you stop behaviors that
Expect social extinction bursts when you stop behaviors that others have been reinforcing — they will escalate attempts to elicit your old behavior because they are experiencing loss of a reinforcer they relied on.
Why This Is a Principle
Derives from Habits as Context-Response Associations (habits form through reward), When a consistently reinforced behavior stops being (extinction burst when reinforcement stops), and Behaviors that produce satisfying consequences tend to be (satisfying consequences make behavior persist). This principle extends extinction burst theory to the social domain - it predicts that the burst happens in OTHERS' behavior, not just your own.