Reaction formation is highly theatrical in nature, and it is often obvious when people are "acting" contrary to their true emotions. For example, I accidentally popped a balloon in my psychology class today while the teacher was talking. This was undoubtably an awkward moment for me, yet I shrugged it off and smiled (albeit awkwardly). I tried to remain composed and treated the situation like a joke. However, I clearly was not hiding my embarrassment well, and my friend pointed out my red cheeks and wide eyes.
In other instances, reaction formation is more difficult to pinpoint. True emotions can be hidden by obscure behaviors for years, all because of the subconscious desire to retain integrity and reduce shame or embarrassment. In Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, Nathan, a father of four, hides deep-seeded guilt through missionary work in the Congo. During World War II, many of Nathan's friends perished during the infamous Bataan Death March, while Nathan himself avoided capture. As a result, Nathan carries feelings of cowardice, guilt, and failure. Instead of confronting these emotions, Nathan represses them using reaction formation. He assumes the persona of a steadfast, fearless man whose faith bows to nothing. Even in the face of a Congolese Civil War, Nathan refuses to leave, disregarding his family's rational desire to flee. Nathan erects a behavioral facade—a dangerous one.
Through Nathan's character, I have noticed that we all tend to construct idealized versions of ourselves. We act through these characters in real life, and they often cloud rational judgement (as in the case of Nathan). Although there are certainly positive impacts of defense mechanisms, it is crucial to understand that viewing oneself as ideal can have negative consequences. I love assuming new characters through performance; it is the reason why I am writing this blog. However, further discovery may prove that performance is not always the supreme goodness I thought it to be!
Your post is really interesting and insightful -- I'm interested in a specific type of the reaction formation-esk performance you discussed -- denial. The Kübler-Ross model puts denial first on the five stages of grief. Sometimes, though, I'm not sure denial is only a reaction to a loss. It seems to me that denial can be a component of a variety of other feelings.
ReplyDeleteNathan has 'guilt', as you described. Yet he also seems to deny his innocence, subconsciously coming to the conclusion that he is somehow responsible for not dying with his fellow soldiers, and that he therefore has an obligation to lead a life of piety and honor. Denial is everywhere - it's present in every crevice of human behavior and in every action. You're spot-on regarding Nathan's refusal to confront those emotions - I think that a refusal to try to look back on events with a clearer or different lens is a component of denial.
Jacob, I agree that, for Nathan, denial is a component of his defense mechanism. His "reaction formation" represses his feelings of cowardice, and he begins to deny they ever existed as a result. I also like what you mentioned about the need to look at life through different lenses, since that's largely the goal of my blog. Although I just started blogging, I hope to show through theatre how adopting certain lenses can profoundly shape our psychology.
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