When ryan's boss yelled at him, he did not yell back at his boss, instead, he went into his own office and kicked the trash can. which ego defense mechanism did ryan demonstrate?

Ryan demonstrates displacement. This defense mechanism was described by Sigmund Freud and describes the redress of an impulse, which is usually aggression, towards someone or something else considered as impotent or weak. For example an object, a child or even an animal and serves as a symbolic substitute for the feeling of dissatisfaction that cannot express for fear of consequences or because he feels unable to face.

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