A psychological process where someone deliberately adopts characteristics or behaviors that are opposite to those of a significant figure in their life, often as a form of rebellion or differentiation. It's a reactive way of forming identity by defining oneself in opposition to others.
Formed by combining 'counter-' (against or opposite) with 'identification,' this term emerged in psychoanalytic literature in the mid-20th century. It describes how people sometimes form identity not by modeling themselves after others, but by consciously becoming their opposite.
Counter-identification is like trying to find yourself by running away from someone else - you end up being defined by what you're against rather than what you're for. Teenagers often use this strategy, becoming everything their parents aren't, but it can trap them in reactive patterns rather than authentic self-discovery.
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