reaction formation

Meaning: In the psychoanalytic (Freudian) view, the ego uses defense mechanisms to reduce anxiety caused by conflict between id impulses and superego standards. In reaction formation, the threatening impulse is kept out of awareness by expressing its opposite, usually in an exaggerated or rigid way. Example: a person who unconsciously resents a coworker is unusually warm and flattering toward that coworker. Another: someone troubled by a forbidden urge campaigns loudly against it.

On the MCAT: A vignette describes a behavior and asks you to name the defense mechanism. The clue is that the outward behavior is the reverse of the likely hidden feeling and seems excessive or forced. Answer choices typically include denial, projection, displacement, repression, rationalization, sublimation and intellectualization, so you must tell them apart.

Common confusion: Students mix it up with denial and projection. Denial refuses to acknowledge a fact or feeling ("I'm not angry"). Projection assigns the unacceptable feeling to someone else ("he is angry with me"). Reaction formation acts out the opposite feeling ("I adore him"). It is also not just ordinary kindness: the defining feature is a hidden contrary impulse being masked. Repression, which pushes the impulse out of awareness, is a different mechanism, although reaction formation often accompanies it.