perverse
adj.adj. showing a strange desire to do the opposite of what is expected or sensible. You use this when someone seems to enjoy being difficult or making things harder for themselves.
adj. characterised by a deliberate desire to behave in a way that is unreasonable or contrary to accepted standards. Often describes a person's stubbornness or a result that seems illogical and counterproductive.
He took a perverse pleasure in disagreeing with everyone.
The decision to cut the budget during a crisis seemed perverse to many experts.
The jury reached a perverse verdict that ignored the overwhelming physical evidence presented by the prosecution, leading to a widespread public outcry for a judicial review.
From Middle English perverse, pervers, from Old French pervers, from Latin perversum (“thoroughly turned”), past participle of pervertere, from per- (“thoroughly”) + vertere (“to turn”).
Often used predicatively after linking verbs like 'seem' or 'be', or attributively to modify nouns like 'pleasure', 'logic', or 'verdict'.