Final answer:
Externalizing behaviors, such as physical or verbal outbursts, are ways individuals might express strong feelings, often as a result of defense mechanisms like displacement. These behaviors and emotional expressions can be modulated by cultural norms and psychological conditions.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a person expresses powerful feelings through externalizing behaviors such as physical or verbal outbursts, he or she is externalizing problems. This can manifest in a variety of ways including aggressive actions like bullying or verbal aggression in both children and adults. These behaviors are often a result of defense mechanisms, where displacement plays a key role by transferring inappropriate urges or behaviors onto a less threatening target. Other mechanisms such as reaction formation, regression, and projection also serve as means of dealing with internal conflicts or stresses by outward expressions that may not align directly with the individual's true emotions or desires.
Emotions themselves are complex and involve a subjective experience along with expression, cognitive appraisal, and physiological responses. The way these emotions are expressed can be influenced by cultural norms and the presence of psychological conditions, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, which may reduce the ability to produce and recognize expressions of emotions.