<p>Is there a known condition in which people deny their own beliefs or act illogical because they want to distance themselves from other people who have the same beliefs?</p>
<p>Here is a made up (and absurd) example of what I mean:
I used to like physics, but I got issues with how physicists are perceived by the majority of society. Thus, I start denying the law of physics because I feel embarrassed to be associated with physicists.</p>
<p>Is anyone aware of studies that have observed such behaviour? It could be about denying beliefs that a person used to hold or it could be that a person starts to deny known facts because there is a particular group that is associated with propagating those facts and the person doesn't like this group for some reason.</p>
<p>I couldn't find any research related to my question. (Which might be the case because psychology is not my home turf, and I don't know for which terms I should search).</p>
<p>Many thanks!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-07T05:45:01.110Z
One possibility is "[reaction formation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_formation)" - a defense mechanism in which people outwardly present the opposite belief to their own - for which a [modicum of evidence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_formation#Research) exists.  An example may be a gay person who expresses homophobic sentiment.
Arnon Weinberg
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-09T09:57:18.117Z
Thank you @ArnonWeinberg, this is helpful. I haven't thought about it as a defense mechanism yet.
kantorovich
<social-psychology>
Condition in which people deny their beliefs or facts to distance themselves from people with similar beliefs or from people who propagate the facts
kantorovich
# Condition in which people deny their beliefs or facts to distance themselves from people with similar beliefs or from people who propagate the facts

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-12-03)

Is there a known condition in which people deny their own beliefs or act illogical because they want to distance themselves from other people who have the same beliefs?

Here is a made up (and absurd) example of what I mean:
I used to like physics, but I got issues with how physicists are perceived by the majority of society. Thus, I start denying the law of physics because I feel embarrassed to be associated with physicists.

Is anyone aware of studies that have observed such behaviour? It could be about denying beliefs that a person used to hold or it could be that a person starts to deny known facts because there is a particular group that is associated with propagating those facts and the person doesn't like this group for some reason.

I couldn't find any research related to my question. (Which might be the case because psychology is not my home turf, and I don't know for which terms I should search).

Many thanks!

**Tags:** social-psychology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: One possibility is "[reaction formation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_formation)" - a defense mechanism in which people outwardly present the opposite belief to their own - for which a [modicum of evidence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_formation#Research) exists.  An example may be a gay person who expresses homophobic sentiment.  
> **username_0**: Thank you @ArnonWeinberg, this is helpful. I haven't thought about it as a defense mechanism yet.  

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## 0 answers

