Definitions for "Reaction formation"
a defense described by Freud whereby we strive in the opposite direction of an unacceptable impulse (e.g., being very nice to conceal one's underlying hatred). While some strivings are reaction formations, Horney pointed out that some acts of kindness, generosity, and affection ought to be taken as genuine rather than reducible to a defense.
A defense mechanism, operating unconsciously, in which an individual attempts to justify or make consciously tolerable by plausible means, feelings or behavior that otherwise would be intolerable.
A defence mechanism whereby an unconscious and unacceptable impulse or feeling that would cause anxiety is converted into its opposite so that it can become conscious and can be expressed.
Albert Cohen's term for his cultural deviance theory where lower-class youths reject middle-class values that they cannot obtain and join countercultures.
protesting too much against something for which someone secretly yearns.