Wikipedia
Displacement activities occur when an animal experiences high motivation for two or more conflicting behaviours: the resulting displacement activity is usually unrelated to the competing motivations. Birds, for example, may peck at grass when uncertain whether to attack or flee from an opponent; similarly, a human may scratch his or her head when they do not know which of two options to choose. Displacement activities may also occur when animals are prevented from performing a single behaviour for which they are highly motivated. Displacement activities often involve actions which bring comfort to the animal such as scratching, preening, drinking or feeding.
Usage examples of "displacement activity".
Aras busied himself cooking, which Eddie took as displacement activity, but he was glad of it because it was good food.
It was, of course, that sort of evasive temporizing that armchair psychologists call 'displacement activity'.
I heard a guy on the TV the other day saying it's all a form of denial, a displacement activity.
Whether he was thinking about his wife arriving in Baltimore, about his ten o'clock coffee or simply indulging in displacement activity that helped him gather his wits, there was no way of telling.
He moved his tentaclelike fingers on his chest, which gesture, I think, is a displacement activity.
The senseless chatter of the men was obviously a psychological gambit, a displacement activity to relieve their anxiety.
It was a monologue, and it was little more than displacement activity, while his mind tried to deal with the prospect of life without Tessa.