reaction formation

The concept of reaction formation has been used to explain responses to external threats as well as internal anxieties.

"We call that a reaction formation," he said.

That, to quote Freud himself, is a reaction formation.

Then there is the "reaction formation" against the childhood dependency on women as mothers, he said.

Another one would be reaction formation, turning something into its opposite.

Er, reaction formation, that's a very common one.

Berman then tried another tactic; he switched to what the psychiatrists call reaction formation.

In other words, Picasso's neo-classicism was pure reaction formation.

He saw this as a reaction formation to the child's having to give up pleasure in anal eroticism.

When the individual displays reaction formation (love to hate) this is a neurotic defense mechanism.