In the Objectivist philosophy, and in theories of psychology whose authors are influenced by that philosophy, evasion is the refusal to think about a specific subject. Unlike a person who is ignorant (lacks knowledge about a subject), a person who evades a subject is not only ignorant but engages in an active, deliberate mental process of avoiding knowledge and clarity. Instead, the person purposefully attempts to remain ignorant or confused about the subject.

Example

A woman is deeply in love with her husband. One day she notices a sign that her husband might be cheating on her. Instead of attempting to find out whether her suspicion is true she tells herself that her husband would never cheat on her and blames herself for being paranoid. She refuses to know more about her husband's activities because she wishes him to be an honest person and is afraid of learning the potentially devastating truth about him.