When a person defends against anxiety by adopting behaviors opposite to his/her true feelings, it is called:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Reaction formation
Option (1) Projection — Incorrect. People attribute their own traits to others: a person with strong aggressive tendencies sees others as acting aggressively towards her or him.
Option (2) Denial — Incorrect. A person totally refuses to accept reality, as someone suffering from HIV/AIDS may altogether deny the illness. The fact is refused outright; nothing opposite is put on show.
Option (3) Rationalisation — Incorrect. Here a person tries to make unreasonable feelings or behaviour seem reasonable, as a student who did poorly in an examination buys a set of new pens and explains it away. The behaviour is justified, not turned into its opposite.
Option (4) Reaction formation — Correct. In reaction formation a person defends against anxiety by adopting behaviours opposite to her or his true feelings. A person with strong sexual urges who channels the energy into religious fervour is the classical example.
Note 1: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2026 on 29-05-2026 (Slot 2).
Note 2: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2022 on 25-08-2022 (Slot 2), and in CUET (UG) 2023 on 15-06-2023 (Slot 3).
NCERT (2025-26): “Ego Defence Mechanisms … Freud has described many different kinds of defence mechanisms. The most important is repression, in which anxietyprovoking behaviours or thoughts are totally dismissed by the unconscious. When people repress a feeling or desire, they become totally unaware of that wish or desire. Thus, when a person says, ‘I do not know why I did that’, some repressed feeling or desire is expressing itself. Other major defence mechanisms are projection, denial, reaction formation and rationalisation. In projection, people attribute their own traits to others. Thus, a person who has strong aggressive tendencies may see other people as acting in an excessively aggressive way towards her/him. In denial, a person totally refuses to accept reality. Thus, someone suffering from HIV/AIDS may altogether deny her/ his illness. In reaction formation, a person defends against anxiety by adopting behaviours opposite to her/his true feelings. A person with strong sexual urges, who channels her/his energy into religious fervour, presents a classical example of reaction formation. In rationalisation, a person tries to make unreasonable feelings or behaviour seem reasonable and acceptable.…” |