***You know that she believes being sprayed by you is insulting . . .***
No, I thought she just doesn't like water. Is there some deeper meaning which I don't know?
She's part of your pride and a female. Females rule the pride, but she'll likely consider humans her parents and seniors forever and not be too competitive with you.
If you hiss at her or swat her gently, she'll understand when she's doing wrong, but she knows sitting on the stairs relaxing is not wrong. If she realizes you're spraying her she'll be confused at the mixed message or, at the very least, insulted at your lack of respect for your pride. It's not a big deal, I prefer to nudge for something that's not bad behavior.
If a cat was eating a dangerous plant or doing something destructive I'll use the spray bottle.
If the cat doesn't know where the water's coming from, they usually figure it's the plant and they decided not to do that anymore!