Two staff nurses applied for promotion to nurse manager. The nurse not promoted initially had feelings of loss but then became supportive of the new manager by helping make the transition smooth and encouraging others. Which term best describes the nurse's response?

A) Altruism
B) Suppression
C) Intellectualization
D) Reaction formation

Altruism is the mechanism by which an individual deals with emotional conflict by meeting the needs of others and receiving gratification vicariously or from the responses of others. The nurse's reaction is conscious rather than unconscious. There is no evidence of suppression. Intellectualization is a process in which events are analyzed based on remote, cold facts and without passion, rather than incorporating feeling and emotion into the processing. Reaction formation is when unacceptable feelings or behaviors are controlled and kept out of awareness by developing the opposite behavior or emotion.