reaction formation


noun Psychoanalysis.

a behavioral tendency developed in direct opposition to a repressed impulse.

Origin of reaction formation

First recorded in 1905–10

British Dictionary definitions for reaction formation

reaction formation

noun

psychoanal a defence mechanism by which a person at a conscious level condemns a repressed wish: thus, a latent homosexual may denounce homosexuality

Medical definitions for reaction formation

reaction formation

n.

A defense mechanism by which an objectionable impulse is expressed in an opposite or contrasting attitude or behavior.