Defense Mechanism Flashcards
Example: Forgetting the details of a really bad car accident
Definition: Painful feelings are conscious initially and then forgotten, but return occasional
Repression
A child who is told that her parents are divorcing may deny that it is happening or deny that she is upset about it
Denial
Definition: unpleasant feelings are suppressed through a conscious effort to ignore them
Example: fears can be replaced by thinking of a happy place, time, or event
Suppression
Definition: undesirable feelings are attributed to another person or persons
Example: an angry person believes others are angry at him/her; a person who is critical of others believes they are critical of him/her
Projection
Definition: anger or another emotion is initially felt toward a person against who it is unsafe to express it
Example: displacement involves taking out our frustrations, feelings, and impulses on people or objects that are less threatening
Displacement
Definition: involves behaviour that is diametrically opposed to the impulses or feelings that one Is repressing
Example: treating someone you dislike with excessive friendly manner in order to hide your true feelings
Reaction Formation
Example: when confronted by stressful events, people sometimes abandon coping strategies and revert to patterns of behaviour used earlier in development
Regression
Example: people with oral fixation have problems with drinking, smoking, and nail biting when they are experiencing stressful events
Fixation
Definition: taking on the characteristics of someone else
Example: taking on characteristics of someone important, parent, sport, celebrity,etc
Identification
Definition: attempt to deny ones true motives by using a reason that is more logical or socially acceptable than ones own reasons
Example: if a person says “ I don’t care if I wasn’t chosen for the team, I didn’t really want to play soccer anyways”
Rationalisation
Example: reading about the grieving process after a parents death
Or not reacting in an expected way
Isolation
Example: channelling aggressive tendencies into playing contact sports
Sublimation
Example: devoting unusual efforts to achievement in order to overcome feelings of inferiority
Example: a young person becomes physically disabled and compensates by working hard academically and becomes a doctor
Compensation
