reaction formation

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Related to reaction formation: Defense mechanisms

reaction formation

[rē′ak·shən fȯr‚mā·shən]

(psychology)

A defense mechanism, characterized by the development of conscious, socially acceptable activity which is the antithesis of repressed or rejected unconscious desires.

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References in periodicals archive ?

In The White Negro (1957), Mailer proposed that Americans continue the war in the form of a collective psychological reaction formation against the totalitarian encroachments of the media.

Mailer, Norman (1923- )

Responding is an exaggerated fashion, opposite to the way you actually feel, is the use of "reaction formation" as a defense mechanism.

Defensive barriers to communication

Wade, she described what she called a "reaction formation along ideological lines.

Beyond the legal right; why liberals and feminists don't like to talk about the morality of abortion