Psychology Atlas

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Psychological Phenomena

Reaction Formation

Psychoanalytic Defense Mechanisms

In psychoanalytic theory, reaction formation is a defense mechanism in which emotions, desires and impulses that are anxiety-producing or unacceptable to the ego are mastered through exaggeration of the directly opposing tendency, so that an unacceptable feeling is outwardly replaced by its opposite.

Facts
Core Claim
Reaction formation is a defense mechanism in which anxiety-producing or unacceptable emotions, desires and impulses are mastered by exaggeration of the directly opposing tendency. 1
Classification
Type of Phenomenon
Emotional Phenomenon 1
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Reaction formation
  • Lead, sentence 1
    emotions, desires and impulses that are anxiety-producing or unacceptable to the ego are mastered by exaggeration of the directly opposing tendency
  • lead section, phenomenon-kind classification
    In psychoanalytic theory, reaction formation (German: Reaktionsbildung) is a defense mechanism in which emotions, desires and impulses that are anxiety-producing or unacceptable to the ego are mastered by exaggeration of the directly opposing tendency.
  • In Group: Defense Mechanisms, Lead
    In psychoanalytic theory, reaction formation (German: Reaktionsbildung) is a defense mechanism in which emotions, desires and impulses that are anxiety-producing or unacceptable to the ego are mastered by exaggeration of the directly opposing tendency.
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