reaction formation love

reaction formation

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A psychological defense mechanism by which a repressed impulse is expressed in an opposite or contrasting behavior.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously develops attitudes and behavior that are the opposite of unacceptable repressed desires and impulses and serve to conceal them

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