Defense Mechanisms Flashcards
Rationalization
● Defense process by which plausible reasons justify an action or opinion.
● Helps ppl cope by blaming external circumstances.
● E.g. After not getting a job, clt thinks, “I’ll be better off at a different company.”
● E.g. after getting turned down, clt says, “I’m better off without them. That person is really snobby.”
● E.g. An abused spouse may rationalize hitting their children as ‘punishment’ after being hit by their spouse.
● Mature defense mechanism
Repression
● Refuses to let unacceptable impulses into conscious awareness.
● E.g. person might feel sexually attracted toward members of the same sex, but pushes away this intolerable thought from consciousness only to later dream about such sexual impulses.
● E.g. after years of celibacy, person begins to eat lots of food; not letting their unacceptable impulses come into existence by using food to repress feelings/desires.
● E.g. boy w/ a phobia of dogs can’t remember the
event that caused him to be afraid of them.
● E.g. If Mo was in car accident and child died, Mo forgot this ever happened.
Denial
● Distorts/refuses to accept reality (acting like whatever happened never happened).
● Denial and repression are very similar. Repression is like forgetting something bad happened. Denial is acting like something didn’t happen.
▪ E.g. Mo in car accident and child died, Mo still acts like they’re still alive.
● Uncommon in very young children because they are unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
● E.g. person continues to eat unhealthy foods, despite doctor’s orders to eat healthier.
● E.g. alcoholic attends a recovery program but continues to drink alcohol.
● Primitive defense mechanism
Projection
● Places unacceptable feelings from the person feeling them onto another person.
● 2-way street: there’s Person A, who has the feeling about Person B, and instead of expressing that feeling, they accuse Person B of having that feeling
instead.
● E.g. Wife is angry at spouse, but instead of expressing that anger, they accuse their spouse of being angry at them.
● E.g. anxious colleague complains about coworker’s anxieties.
● E.g. Clt complains that no one likes him, but in reality he does not like himself or others.
● E.g. Clt gained weight, but instead of acknowledging it, they tell their friend it they (the friend) gained weight.
● Primitive
Displacement
● Affect transferred from one object to another
● 3 parties/situations involved: Person A, who has the feeling about Person/Situation B, but doesn’t feel they can express it directly, instead take it out on Person C.
● E.g. when man’s upset at spouse, instead of expressing it to spouse, he yells at his kids
● E.g. person compulsively eats lollipops after they quit smoking.
● E.g. person compulsively washes her hands after
being shamed for masturbating
● Mature defense Mechanism
Projective Identification
● Takes projection a step further, with the person who has been projected onto believing the projection.
● E.g. person gained weight, but instead
of acknowledging, they tell a friend they-the friend- gained weight. Friend then believes they’ve gained weight and behaves in way that aligns with the projection because of their insecurities or the person projecting has controlled the situation to make them believe it. (e.g. person eats more and gains weight).
● E.g. insecure supervisor feels they are doing an adequate job and accuses their supervisees of doing inadequate work (projection). Supervisees feel insecure and may do less adequate work than before the projection.
Intellectualization
● Content is separated from repressed affect.
● E.g. person talks about traumatic childhood as if reading a scripted story.
● E.g. victim of sexual assault researches PTSD criteria instead of addressing emotional pain in therapy.
● Mature defense mechanism
Asceticism
● Characterized by rigor and self-denial.
● E.g. adult refuses to eat or sleep until a major work project is complete
● E.g. adolescent copes with sexual tension and desire by refusing to engage in all pleasurable activities.
Sublimation
● Displace unacceptable instincts for constructive and socially acceptable behaviors.
● E.g. clt with major depression uses professional dance to help sublimate suicidal thoughts.
● E.g. clt with aggressive impulses kickboxes
● Mature defense mechanism
Introjection/Internalization
● Internalization of outside events or characteristics of other people
● E.g. victim identifies w/ aggressor’s behaviors to protect themself.
● E.g. driver puts on seat belt before driving b/c they have internalized the voice of previous authority figures who told them to buckle their seatbelt
● E.g. “boys don’t cry” – this is an idea that a person
might take in from their environment.
● Mat lead to identification with the individual who said/thought it.
Identification
● Qualities of an external object are absorbed into one’s personality.
● Because internalization and identification are so similar/connected, there’s no chance of the test wanting you to be able to pick between the two.
● May have one of them as an answer choice with 3 others that aren’t so similar, or that the question will
use the term and you’ll have to choose an answer that reflects the closest definition.
● E.g. Bruce Lee fan becomes a disciplined martial art champion.
● E.g. TAY follows in their father’s footsteps and becomes a lawyer.
● Mature defense mechanism
Reaction Formation
● Unacceptable impulses are expressed as their opposites.
● Try to hide true feelings
● Releases anxiety and guilt associated with the true impulse
● E.g. supervisee who despises their supervisor is overly nice to their supervisor.
● E.g. parent with an unwanted child becomes overprotective or loving to child
● E.g. gay man openly dates women and criticizes gay men.
● Primitive defense mechanism
Undoing
● Avoid being punished for undesirable thoughts or
actions. We ‘undo’ a threatening thought, feeling, or behavior by engaging in a contrary behavior.
● Undo a thought, feeling, or behavior they have already had
● E.g. spouse unconsciously undoes his adulterous acts by buying his partner lavish gifts.
● E.g. person is overly nice to a person she insulted in her mind.
