Question

Following the birth of his baby brother, five-year-old Ermen feels that he is no longer the center of his parents' attention. He resents this fact, but he is unable to express his dislike for his sibling for fear of being reprimanded. When Ermen is left to take care of his baby brother, he often resorts to hurting him but shows intense affection toward the baby in the presence of his family. According to Freudian psychoanalytic theory, this is an example of ___________.

Answer 1

Reaction formation

Step-by-step explanation:

Reaction formation is one of the psychological defense mechanisms. In reaction formation, a person discern their true desires or feelings to be legally or socially unacceptable, and hence, they attempt to satisfy others and themselves that the opposite of this is true in a very exaggerated or overemphasized performance.

Example: The gay person may hide his homosexuality.

Answer 2

The answer is reaction formation.

Step-by-step explanation:

Reaction formation refers to a defense mechanism through which a person thinks that his or her feelings as well as desires are unacceptable for other people. Thus, the person tries to convince people or even him or her that the right side is the opposite. The person usually does this through an exaggerated performance.

People that use this technique usually perceive things regarding binary opposition, it means that these people only consider that things are either good or bad, there is any aspect between them. This makes people inflexible. An example of reaction formation is when there is a teenager that knows that he or she is gay, but he or she sees the necessity of hiding his or her homosexuality because in his or her family this condition is seeing as a serious sin.