Previous Chapter Chapter 8: Reaction Formation Next Chapter
Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied,
And vice sometime's by action dignified.
—William Shakespeare, 1595/1917, Romeo and Juliet, act II, scene iii, lines 21–22
Most individuals wish to appear to be reasonably solicitous and scrupulous in their everyday interactions with other people. On a social level, expressions of kindness and honesty in word and deed represent essential qualities in civil and harmonious relationships. At the same time, persons may demonstrate oversolicitude and excessive conscientiousness in exchanges with others that mask or obscure their subjective intentions. In response to threat, individuals may employ the defense mechanism of reaction formation to fend off socially unacceptable or prurient tendencies through the expression of diametrically opposing behavior. Reaction formations also involve exaggerated and excessive responses of a person's effort ...
Also from SAGE Publishing
- CQ Library American political resources opens in new tab
- Data Planet A universe of data opens in new tab
- Lean Library Increase the visibility of your library opens in new tab
- SAGE Journals World-class research journals opens in new tab
- SAGE Research Methods The ultimate methods library opens in new tab
- SAGE Stats Data on demand opens in new tab