Defense Mechanisms

Question 1

Acting Out

Answer 1

• Individual deals with emotional conflict or internal/external stressors by actions rather than reflections or feelings
• Not synonymous with “bad behavior” because it requires evidence that the behavior is related to emotional conflicts

Question 2

Affiliation

Answer 2

• Individual deals with emotional conflict or internal/external stressors by turning to others for help or support
• Involves sharing problems with others but does not imply trying to make someone else responsible for them

Question 3

Altruism

Answer 3

• Individual deals with emotional conflict or internal/external stressors by dedication to meeting the needs of others
• Gratification is either received vicariously or from the response of others

Question 4

Anticipation

Answer 4

• Experiencing emotional reactions or anticipating consequences in advance of possible future events
• Considers realistic, alternative responses or solutions

Question 5

Autistic Fantasy

Answer 5

• Excessive daydreaming as a substitute for human relationships, more effective action, or problem solving

Question 6

Denial

Answer 6

• Refusing to acknowledge some painful aspect of external reality or subjective experience that would be apparent to others
• “Psychotic Denial” is the term used with there is gross impairment in reality testing

Question 7

Devaluation

Answer 7

• Attributing exaggerated negative qualities to self or others

Question 8

Displacement

Answer 8

• Transferring a feeling about, or a response to, one object onto another (usually less threatening) substitute object

Question 9

Dissociation

Answer 9

• A breakdown in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, perception or self or the environment, or sensory/motor behavior

Question 10

Help-Rejecting Complaining

Answer 10

• Complaining or making repetitious requests for help that disguise covert feelings or hostility or reproach toward others
• Then rejecting the suggestions, advice, or help that others offer

Question 11

Humor

Answer 11

• Emphasizing the amusing or ironic aspects of the conflict or stressor

Question 12

Idealization

Answer 12

• Attributing exaggerated positive qualities to others

Question 13

Intellectualization

Answer 13

• The excessive use of abstract thinking or the making of generalizations to control or minimize disturbing feelings

Question 14

Isolation of Affect

Answer 14

• Separation of ideas from the feelings originally associated with them
• Loses touch with feelings associated with a given idea (ex. traumatic event)
• While remaining aware of the cognitive elements of it (ex. descriptive details)

Question 15

Omnipotence

Answer 15

• Feeling or acting as if he or she possesses special powers or abilities and is superior to others

Question 16

Passive Aggression

Answer 16

• Indirectly and unassertively expressing aggression toward others
• Facade of masking resistance, resentment, or hostility
• Often occurs in response to demands for independent action or the lack of gratification of dependent wishes
• May be adaptive for individuals in subordinate positions who have no other way to express assertiveness more overtly

Question 17

Projection

Answer 17

• Falsely attributing to another his or her own unacceptable feelings, impulses, or thoughts

Question 18

Projective Identification

Answer 18

• Unlike simple projection, the individual does not fully disavow what is projected
• Instead, the individual remains aware of his or her own affects or impulses but misattributes them as justifiable reactions to the other person
• Not infrequently, the individual induces the very feelings in others that were mistakenly believed to be there, making it difficult to clarify who did what to whom first

Question 19

Rationalization

Answer 19

• Concealing the true motivations for his or her own thoughts, actions, or feelings through the elaboration of reassuring or self-serving but incorrect explanations

Question 20

Reaction Formation

Answer 20

• Substituting behavior, thoughts, or feelings that are diametrically opposed to his or her own unacceptable thoughts or feelings
• This usually occurs in conjunction with their repression

Question 21

Repression

Answer 21

• Expelling disturbing wishes, thoughts, or experiences from conscious awareness
• The feeling component may remain conscious, detached from its associated ideas

Question 22

Self-Assertion

Answer 22

• Expressing his or her feelings and thoughts directly in a way that is not coercive or manipulative

Question 23

Self-Observation

Answer 23

• Reflecting on his or her own thoughts, feelings, motivation, and behavior and responding appropriately

Question 24

Splitting

Answer 24

• Compartmentalizing opposite affect states and failing to integrate the positive and negative qualities of the self or others into cohesive images
• Because ambivalent affects cannot be experienced simultaneously, more balanced views and expectations of self or others are excluded from emotional awareness
• Self and object images tend to alternate between polar opposites: exclusively loving, powerful, worthy, nurturant, and kind – or exclusively bad, hateful, angry, destructive, rejecting, or worthless

Question 25

Sublimation

Answer 25

• Channeling potentially maladaptive feelings or impulses into socially acceptable behavior
• Ex: Contact sports to channel angry impulses

Question 26

Suppression

Answer 26

• Intentionally avoiding thinking about disturbing problems, wishes, feelings, or experiences

Question 27

Undoing

Answer 27

• Words or behaviors designed to negate or to make amends symbolically for unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or actions