After Alex was fired from his job, he went home and ripped up his small tomato patch.His reaction to stress was one of

A) problem solving.
B) projection.
C) reaction formation.
D) displacement.
E) rationalization.

Displacement is a defense mechanism where an individual redirects their emotional feelings from the original source of stress to a less threatening target. In this case, Alex redirected his feelings of anger or frustration from losing his job towards destroying his tomato patch, an unrelated and less threatening object.