To alleviate anxiety caused by a desire to be sexually promiscuous with women,John decides to become a priest.Freud would say that John has used the defense mechanism of:

Question

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Reaction formation is the defense mechanism where a person behaves in a way opposite to their unconscious desires to cope with anxiety caused by those desires. In this scenario, John has an unconscious desire to be sexually promiscuous with women, but he copes with the anxiety caused by that desire by becoming a priest, which is the opposite behavior.

To Alleviate Anxiety Caused by a Desire to Be Sexually