The present study was designed to investigate the effects of verbal threats from teachers or classmates on psychological reactance among elementary school and junior high school students. Three independent variables were used : persons who express verbal threat (teachers and classmates), students' grades (fourth, sixth, and eighth grades) and their gender (male and female). A 2 x 3 x 2 factorial design was used, and 168 students participated as subjects. Three types of negative response to verbal threats (affective, verbal, and behavioral reactance) were measured as dependent variables. The main results were as follows : Verbal threat from teachers produced greater behavioral reactance as students were in higher grades. Under the conditions of verbal threat from classmates, the relationship between grades and behavioral reactance was U shaped, that is, the fourth grader and the eighth grader reported more behavioral reactance than the sixth grader did.