When people are stressed or insecure/moody or whatever, why do they take it out on others….?
The behavior you describe is called “displacement.” It is an unconscious defense mechanism, whereby the mind redirects attitude/ feelings, typically of an agressive/ hostile nature (but not always), from its original target (be it a person, an organization or whatever) which the mind deems to be unaceptable (ex: the boss, the big bully at school) to a substitute target which finds more convenient and less threatening (ex:store clerk, little sister, roomate, dog, garbage can). Obviously, the unconscious mind enacts displacement to protect us. But ironically, our substitute, not to mention innocent targets, are not the only ones, ill affected by our displacement. This because when we take out our frustrations on the undeserving _and often those are the very people we are the closest to, we damage our relationships, not to mention begin being seen by others as real jerks. Now, the good news is that we do not have to be enslaven by our unconscious mind defenses. And the fact that not all p
