reaction formation

American  

[ree-ak-shuhn fawr-mey-shuhn] / riˈæk ʃən fɔrˌmeɪ ʃən /

noun

Psychoanalysis, Psychology.

1. a defense mechanism in which a repressed impulse is expressed through behavior that is in direct opposition.

   An inferiority complex manifesting as narcissistic personalty disorder is a classic reaction formation.

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reaction formation British  

noun

1. psychoanal a defence mechanism by which a person at a conscious level condemns a repressed wish: thus, a latent homosexual may denounce homosexuality

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Etymology

Origin of reaction formation

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Sigmund Freud referred to projection, sublimation, reaction formation, displacement—all tools of self-distancing from problems that touch the ego too profoundly.

From Scientific American • May 8, 2012

All the time, he was talking about denial, repression, splitting, reaction formation and ego-defense mechanisms.

From Scientific American • Dec. 27, 2011

This "F�hrer personality," Langer noted, "is a grossly exaggerated and distorted conception of masculinity" and "shows all the earmarks of a reaction formation created unconsciously as a cover-up for deep-lying tendencies that he despises."

From Time Magazine Archive

But in general it is necessary to separate from each other sublimation and reaction formation as two diverse processes.

From Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex by Brill, A. A. (Abraham Arden)

Now we know from neuropsychology that burning ambition in later years represents a reaction formation to infantile bed wetting.

From Sleep Walking and Moon Walking A Medico-Literary Study by Sadger, J.