Reaction Formation
Reaction formation consists of attempting to conceal motives by publicly displaying attitudes that are their direct opposites. A feeling of hostility. toward another person may be covered by excessive thoughtfulness in dealing with him. We may well suspect the presence of this defense mechanism whenever "righteous indignation" occurs out of all proportion to the circumstances. One counselor ,reports the case of a.n athlete who used every opportunity to extol the virtues of his coach, whom he disliked very much. Sometimes we may
resolve conflict by strengthening one of the motives. The shy person whose past experience has caused him to feel anxiety in face-to-face communication with other people may react by displaying gruff and aggressive behavior ..
One 'of the difficulties in recognizing reaction formation is that different people may react the same in a given situation but for diverse reasons. One person may display highly moral attitudes and preoccupation with socially approved objectives as reaction formation, while another reacts out of real concern. Again, the intensity of the reaction can clue us in to its sincerity. If it is irrational, it may be reaction formation. Another guide is that reaction formation usually occurs under fairly special circQmstances. We can think of reaction formation as an exaggerated expression of some behavioral tendency e,xactly opposed to some "repressed" impulse. Genuine expressions of an impulse are not usually extreme, nor are they compulsive. One clinician says that we often reverse emotion in speech; instead of expressing hostility toward another person, we express love. Presumably, the stronger the hostility, the more intense the positive expression of love.
