Undoing (Psychology)

Undoing is a defense mechanism in which a person tries to symbolically cancel out or reverse an unacceptable, destructive or threatening thought or action by engaging in a contrary behavior soon afterward. For example, someone who has a hostile or violent thought toward another person might respond by acting with exaggerated kindness toward that same person. The concept draws on the German term Ungeschehenmachen, meaning to make something not have happened, capturing the idea that the later action is meant to erase or offset the earlier one rather than simply express a different feeling.