Have
you ever felt (secretly) very hostile or resentful of a sibling or colleague
but still behaved in a considerate, solicitous and even friendly way toward that
individual? Or, have you ever put on a brave face and nonchalantly agreed to
ski down a more advanced run even though you felt (privately) terrified to
advance past the bunny slope? If so, you have experienced a defense mechanism
known as the reaction formation.
This response
is characterized by transforming negative emotions or behaviors—or, more
accurately, emotions or behaviors that are perceived to be negative or
inappropriate—into a more desirable and functional form. Like all other defense
mechanisms, the reaction formation is characterized by four common traits: 1)
it is unconscious; 2) it is self-deceptive; 3) it contains elements of denial;
4) it distorts reality through thoughts and action. Their primarily role is to
protect the subconscious mind from what it perceives as a threat or “pain.” In
this case, the pain would be caused by our peers negatively judging our
attitudes or behavior that contradicts acceptable beliefs or behaviors: “How
can/why do you resent someone you barely know just because he or she possesses
a specific skill or talent?” Rather than risk other people’s criticism of your
feelings—the origins of which are unclear even to you—you overcompensate and
cultivate those more socially acceptable behaviors to be accepted in your social
group.
According
to Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder
John Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of Mind, we are all subconsciously motivated to
maintain and/or restore a known physical
and emotional status of comfort and security. In this case, social acceptance
represents pleasure, whereas criticism and potential rejection from our peers
are pain. Since the SCM is motivated and even programmed to seek the pleasure
stimuli, we may adopt these defense mechanisms to literally “defend” against
potential social rejection (pain). For example, a veterinary student who so
transforms his personal dislike of dogs to specialize in caring for canines has a greater chance of running a successful veterinary practice, where dogs
are often patients.
Even though
almost everyone uses one to ameliorate an undesirable reaction to an unpleasant
circumstance at some point, these defense mechanisms provide only a temporary
perception of control over the environment. Eventually, we have to deal with
and resolve the primary issue that triggered the defense mechanism to achieve
personal growth.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the
Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about
Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2014
