The term reluctant is a qualifying adjective that is applied to those people or subjects in whom a negative or doubtful attitude is shown to carry out a certain type of action. Having reluctance is, in this sense, doubts or refusal to do something for certain reasons, perhaps valid or perhaps prejudicial depending on each particular situation. The term reluctant comes from the Latin language in which the term renuens refers to the verb 'deny'.
When we speak of someone as reluctant to do something or we speak of reluctance as an attitude taken by a person, we speak of a situation in which something is proposed or invited to do but the person is insecure or hesitant about taking such action for reasons such as fear, prejudice, dissatisfaction, shame, etc. The reluctance is precisely to be insecure or doubtful about doing something, that is, to show distrust, not necessarily to refuse to do it. In many cases, being reluctant also means finally doing what is being referred to but reluctantly or without conviction.
Reluctance or the quality of reluctance is also a term that can be applied to different phenomena such as illness. Thus, it can normally be said that a disease is reluctant to certain cures, treatments or substances, which is meaning that its presence in the body lasts longer than it should because it resists the treatment applied to it. It is thus a problem since its reluctance to disappear makes it more difficult to treat. This proves us that the idea of reluctance is not something that applies only to people, even animals can also show reluctance or be reluctant to certain acts, even perhaps much more than humans because they distrust or fear the human presence or of other animals.
