reaction formation
Unconscious opposite behavior
Reaction formation is a psychological defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously converts an unacceptable impulse into its opposite.
Someone harboring hostile feelings might become excessively friendly; a person struggling with forbidden desires might publicly condemn them: His vocal opposition to gambling looked like reaction formation—he'd been a compulsive gambler for years.
The concept originated in psychoanalytic theory.
Unconscious self-protective mental process
- overcompensationExcessive counterbalancing reaction
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
- denialRefusal to accept reality
- projectionSomething that extends outward
displacement · sublimation · rationalization · suppression · undoing · ego defense · psychological defense · coping mechanism
Reversal of position
- reversalComplete change of direction
- contradictionOpposing claims, incompatible together
- antithesisDirect opposite; contrasting juxtaposition
- contraryOpposed in nature
transformation · conversion · flipside · polarity · dichotomy · negation · counteraction
Psychology of unconscious mind
- psychodynamicsScience of mental forces
- unconscious mindMental processes beneath awareness
- psychosexual stagesLibidinal maturation sequence
- neurosisFunctional mental disorder
Excessive guarding from harm
- sanctimoniousnessFeigned moral superiority
- puritanismRigid moral severity
- prudishnessExcessive moral strictness
- zealotryExcessive devotion to beliefs
Longing for something prohibited
- internal conflictOpposing forces within someone
- guiltMoral self-reproach
- shamePainful awareness of failure
- discomfortMild physical or mental distress
defense mechanism
Unconscious self-protective mental process
- overcompensationExcessive counterbalancing reaction
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
- denialRefusal to accept reality
projection · displacement · sublimation · rationalization · suppression · undoing · ego defense · psychological defense · coping mechanism · self-deception
inversion
Reversal of position
- reversalComplete change of direction
- contradictionOpposing claims, incompatible together
- antithesisDirect opposite; contrasting juxtaposition
contrary · transformation · conversion · flipside · polarity · dichotomy · negation · counteraction
Freudian theory
Psychology of unconscious mind
- psychodynamicsScience of mental forces
- unconscious mindMental processes beneath awareness
- psychosexual stagesLibidinal maturation sequence
neurosis · ego · id · superego · libido · depth psychology · instinct
overprotectiveness
Excessive guarding from harm
- sanctimoniousnessFeigned moral superiority
- puritanismRigid moral severity
- prudishnessExcessive moral strictness
forbidden desire
Longing for something prohibited
- internal conflictOpposing forces within someone
- guiltMoral self-reproach
- shamePainful awareness of failure
- psychoanalysisFreud, id, ego, unconscious, Sigmund Freud
- coping mechanismsrepression, denial, projection, sublimation, rationalization
- self-deceptiondenial, delusion, wishful thinking, rationalization, willful blindness
- unconscious drivesrepressed desires, hidden desires, libido, instincts, survival instinct
- transferencecountertransference, reenactment
reaction formationemotional authenticity
Sincere expression of inner states
true feelings · emotional honesty · congruence · transparency · self-expression
reaction formationsublimation
Solid to gas directly
acting out · catharsis · abreaction · free association · raw emotion
reform, reaction, formation, transform, reacting, reactionary, reactions, reactive, reactivity