What does Reaction Formation help individuals to cope with?

Reaction Formation is a defense mechanism where an individual responds to an unwanted or anxiety-provoking feeling by expressing the opposite behavior or sentiment. This reaction allows individuals to cope with and manage unacceptable emotions that they find difficult to directly acknowledge or experience.

For instance, a person who feels anger towards someone may instead act overly friendly and loving towards that person as a way to disguise their true feelings. This mechanism can temporarily shield the individual from the emotional discomfort associated with their true feelings, thereby helping them maintain a sense of psychological stability.

In contrast, while overwhelming stress, severe anxiety, and social rejection can certainly influence an individual's emotional state, these concepts are broader and do not specifically connect to the mechanism of reaction formation. Reaction formation is primarily concerned with the management of unacceptable emotions, making it the most precise answer in this context.