formation against their sadism. In addition, "[h]igh ideals of virtue and goodness may be reaction formations against primitive object cathexes rather than realistic values that are capable of being lived up to. Romantic notions of chastity and purity may mask crude sexual desires, altruism may hide selfishness, and piety may conceal sinfulness." Even more counter-intuitively, according to this model "[a] phobia is an example of a reaction formation. The person wants what he fears. He is not afraid of the object; he is afraid of the wish for the object. The reactive fear prevents the dreaded wish from being fulfilled. The concept of reaction formation has been used to explain responses to external threats as well as internal anxieties. In the phenomenon described as Stockholm syndrome, a hostage or kidnap victim 'falls in love' with the feared and hated person who has complete power over them. Similarly, paradoxical reports exist of powerless and vulnerable inmates of Nazi camps creating 'favourites' among the guards and even collecting objects discarded by them. The mechanism of reaction formation is often characteristic of obsessional neuroses. When this mechanism is overused, especially during the formation of the ego, it can become a permanent character trait. This is often seen in those with obsessional character and obsessive personality disorders. This does not imply that its periodic usage is always obsessional, but that it can lead to obsessional behavior. Research A few studies have found evidence for the existence of reaction formation. Women who scored high on sex-related guilt feelings claimed lower arousal when exposed to erotic stimulus, but physiological measures showed higher than average sexual responses. When Caucasians who actually showed non-racist, egalitarian tendencies were told they scored high for racist tendencies, they gave more money to an African-American panhandler when leaving the testing lab than those who were not accused of harboring racist sentiments. See also Counterphobic attitude Displacement Dunning-Kruger effect Projection Repression Rationalization Regression Self-hatred Streisand effect The lady doth protest too much, methinks References Psychoanalytic terminology Defence mechanisms