What is reaction formation?
If you’ve been studying for the Fundamentals of Instructing or preparing for your CFI initial checkride, you’ve been studying the defense mechanisms. According to the FAA Aviation Instructor’s Handbook, they are
- Repression
- Denial
- Compensation
- Projection
- Rationalization
- Reaction Formation
- Fantasy
- Displacement
The AIH’s description of reaction formation never clicked with me.
In reaction formation a person fakes a belief opposite to the true belief because the true belief causes anxiety. The person feels an urge to do or say something and then actually does or says something that is the opposite of what he or she really wants. For example, a learner may develop a who-cares-how-other-people-feel attitude to cover up feelings of loneliness and a hunger for acceptance.
What does that last sentence have to do with flight training? Here is a relatable, checkride-ready example of reaction formation.
Imagine a student who is nervous about flying power-on stalls but whose internal dialog goes I’m working to be a pilot, and pilots aren’t afraid of stalls. If the student overdoes “fake it til you make it” by getting excited to do stalls, pressuring you to work on stalls, or starts maneuevering agressively — maybe too aggressively — that is reaction formation.
The true belief (being nervous about performing stalls) causes anxiety (maybe I’m not cut out to be a pilot), so instead the learner says (“We have to work on stalls today!”) or does (maneuvering too aggressively) the opposite of the true belief.
Your job as the instructor is to recognize the pattern of behavior, see the root cause, and build confidence. “It makese sense to have a healthy respect for power-on stalls because that can get us into a spin. Let’s get really good at power-off stalls first.”