Reaction formation - Definition and Overview

In Freud's psychoanalytic theory, reaction formation is a defense mechanism in which anxiety-producing or unacceptable emotions are replaced by their direct opposites. For example, one who is strongly attracted to pornography, but has moral or religious obligations to avoid it, might become a staunch critic of it.

It has been shown that many homophobes have repressed homosexual feelings; this could be an example of reaction formation.