Caveat: I know culture plays a role in these things and how people respond, so this may not be relevant, but here is my story of defiance...
I always did exactly what my parents expected of me growing up. I never went through a teenaged rebellious stage, and continued to seek their approval well into adulthood. It got to the point where I felt guilty when I was doing something I knew they wouldn't approve of (dating and assorted other related activities, if you know what I mean), EVEN IF I DIDN'T THINK THEY WERE WRONG. Their voices followed me everywhere.
After I got married, this continued. If I had a decision to make, and one would make my parents happy and the other my spouse happy, I would make the one that would make my parents happy. It was not until I was 33 years old that I defied them for the first time, and even then, it wasn't for myself, if was for my child. I had no choice, because it was for my child and I had to put him first.
My parents didn't approve of how I was raising my child (attachment parenting), and we had a major blowout when they thought he was being disrespectful (which he was, he was two) and I interceded when they wanted to spank him. They banished him from their lives for a summer. I was 8 months pregnant at the time and wasn't sure if they would even come see the new baby, because my mother said she wouldn't come to my house if my two-year-old was there and if I brought him to their house, she would leave and my father would discipline him as he saw fit. There was no way I was kicking my two-year-old out so my mom could visit, nor was I going to let my father discipline him, so we didn't visit them.
This was an extremely painful period for me--I had spent my entire life avoiding this very thing, and yet it had happened anyway. I could hardly sleep, kept playing conversations over and over again in my head. But then I started to realize how wonderful it was to be a little family unit and to only have to worry about me, my husband, and my children. It was so liberating!!
My parents and I very slowly found our way back together, but it was in a new way, and honestly, quite a wonderful way. Our relationship now is better than I ever thought it could be, and that's because I left the relationship as a child and re-entered it as an adult. Looking back, I am so grateful for this experience, and only wish I'd had the guts to defy my parents as a teenager or young adult. There is a purpose for that rebellion, and it's a good one.