Definition of Reversal.
Reversal is a defense mechanism that involves switching of roles from a passive recipient to am active agent.
Proposed by Sigmund Freud and also his daughter Anna Freud who claimed that the defense mechanism also transformed a passive experience into an active one.
For Instance;
• An individual with an unconcious desire to be controlled develops a need to dominate others.
• A parent with feeling of helplessness becomes a controlling to his Kid.
• An individual who fears vulnerability becomes a stoic and pretend they don’t need anyone.
• An individual raised by hostile parents become an anxious adult who is hostile to others.
•A boy abandoned by the former girlfriend starts abandoning girls before they’re abandoned again.
• A child who grew up feeling small, becomes an adult who is domineering and controlling.
Reaction formation vs Reversal.
Closely related to reversal reaction formation where an individual behaves in a manner opposite to his genuine desires or emotions for instance; An individual becoming overly nice after being wronged contrary to his genuine feelings of anger. Reversal however entails reversing the direction of impulse or the role of the subject. The individual above might actually have revenged.
Reversal vs Undoing.
In undoing, a thought, feeling or action that one finds unacceptable is cancelled out by adopting a contrary one.. in reversal however entails reversing the roles eg; From the victim to the aggressor.