Redirective

Redirective is an adjective used to describe something that tends to redirect or is designed to redirect attention, behavior, or direction. In general, redirective methods aim to shift a process or focus from one path to another, often in a deliberate or strategic way.

Across disciplines, redirective concepts appear in education, psychology, communication, design, and linguistics. In education and therapy, redirective approaches guide a person toward a more constructive task or topic rather than insisting on a confrontation or punishment. In conversation and negotiation, redirective tactics steer dialogue away from a blocked issue and toward a productive alternative. In user experience and interface design, redirective cues or prompts steer users toward intended actions, such as continuing a workflow or selecting a recommended option. In rhetoric and discourse analysis, redirective devices may pivot attention to a related concept or reframing.

Examples of usage are often context-dependent rather than standardized, reflecting different goals such as de-escalation, task focus, or smoother information processing. The term is not a formal technical term with a single fixed definition in major dictionaries; it is typically used as a productive adjective derived from redirect, with the suffix -ive indicating a property or tendency.

Etymology: redirective forms from the verb redirect, which itself comes from re- (again, back) and directus (guided). Related terms include redirection, redirecting, and redirect strategy.