What behavior is often reinforced through avoidance of feared situations?

The behavior that is often reinforced through avoidance of feared situations is the reinforcement of phobic behavior. When a person encounters a situation that causes fear and subsequently avoids it, they experience immediate relief from that anxiety. This relief acts as a positive reinforcement, strengthening the behavior of avoidance. Over time, this can lead to the development or exacerbation of phobias, as the person learns to avoid not only the specific feared situation but also similar situations that might provoke anxiety. This reinforces the cycle of fear and avoidance, leading to increasingly rigid patterns of behavior surrounding the fear.

In contrast, increased self-esteem might result from successfully confronting fears, rather than avoiding them. Increased anxiety is typically a result of exposure to fears, not avoidance. Desensitization to fears usually occurs through gradual exposure to the feared stimulus, not by avoiding it. Thus, the correct choice reflects the reinforcement cycle that occurs when avoidance behaviors are consistently enacted in response to fear.