Reaction Formation

nounverified·updated May 18, 2026

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in 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

MWE

Classifications

per-axis with provenance

Entity Type

Unknown—authoritativeglossary_import_default_pending_classifier

?unassignedlast reviewed —

Sensitivity

unclassified

Information Class

unclassified

Variants

3 surface forms

plural: Reaction Formations
possessive: Reaction Formation's
pluralpossessive: Reaction Formations'

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