character armour

noun

psychol the defence an individual exhibits to others and to himself or herself to disguise his or her underlying weaknesses: a term coined by William Reich

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012