Adam is very stressed about the fact that he has not paid his taxes in several years and he knows that he owes the government several thousand dollars (that he does not have). Every time he thinks about his debt he becomes upset, so he tells himself that he is really refusing to pay taxes to protest the government's foolish spending. Adam is employing the defense mechanism of

a. reaction formation.
b. rationalization.
c. sublimation.
d. displacement

Ans: b. rationalization.