A man becomes a leader in a crusade promoting sexual morality. A year later the man is arrested for a variety of sex crimes. Freud might have interpreted the man's earlier behavior as an example of

• A. denial
• B. projection
• C. reaction formation
• D. sublimation

Answer: (C)

Reaction formation is when a person eases anxiety about forbidden impulses by adopting the opposite behavior or attitude—doing and showing exactly the thing that condemns those impulses, often in an exaggerated way.

In this scenario, the man publicly leads a crusade promoting strict sexual morality, which can be seen as you turning a possible underlying sexual impulse into an extreme, overt stance against sexuality. The moralizing, anti-sex posture serves to mask inner desires or conflicts he might feel, turning them into a pervasive public behavior. The later arrest for sex crimes suggests that the underlying impulses didn’t disappear; they were simply hidden under a rigid moral front, which is characteristic of reaction formation.

Why the other options don’t fit as well: denial would involve simply refusing to acknowledge reality, not necessarily adopting the opposite public stance. Projection would involve accusing others of immoral behavior as a way to cope with one’s own urges, not adopting virtue as a mask. Sublimation would channel the impulse into a socially valued activity in a constructive way (for example, channeling energy into art, science, or work); a crusade against sexuality is more about overcompensation and moral posturing than transforming the impulse into a constructive outlet.