Defense Mechanisms Flashcards
Denial
Avoidance of unpleasant realities by unconsciously ignoring their existence
Refusal to admit or recognize that something has occurred or is currently occurring
Projection
Unconscious rejection of emotionally unacceptable personal attributes, beliefs, or actions by attributing them to other people, situations, or events
Taking one’s own unacceptable qualities or feelings and attributing them to another
Regression
Return to more comfortable thoughts, behaviors, or feelings used in earlier stages of development in response to current conflict, stress, or threat
Reverting to patterns of behavior from an earlier stage of development in order to cope with stressful events
Repression
Unconscious exclusion of unwanted, disturbing emotions, thoughts, or impulses from conscious awareness Keeps information (negative) out of conscious awareness
Reaction Formation
Often called overcompensation; unacceptable feelings, thoughts, or behaviors are pushed from conscious awareness by displaying and acting on the opposite feeling, thought, or behavior
Taking up the opposite feeling, impulse or behavior in order to reduce anxiety
Rationalization
Justification of illogical, unreasonable ideas, feelings, or actions by developing an acceptable explanation that satisfies the person
Explaining an unacceptable behavior or feeling in a rational or logical manner
Undoing
Behaviors that attempt to make up for or undo an unacceptable action, feeling, or impulse
Intellectualization
Attempts to master current stressor or conflict by expansion of knowledge, explanation, or understanding
Focusing on the intellectual component to avoid thinking about a stressful or emotional aspect
Suppression
Conscious analog of repression; conscious denial of a disturbing situation, feeling, or event
The conscious removal of unwanted information out of awareness
Sublimation
Unconscious process of substitution of socially acceptable, constructive activity for strong unacceptable impulse
Converts unacceptable impulses into more acceptable behaviors
Altruism
Meeting the needs of others in order to discharge drives, conflicts, or stressors
Splitting
Aspects of a person or self are seen only in extremes and not able to be integrated
Humor
Pointing out funny or ironic aspects of a situation to express feelings
A student does poorly on a test and blames the professor for a “bad” test
Rationalization
A woman views her husband as either all good or all bad; cannot integrate negative and positive
Splitting
Making a joke at one’s own expense
Humor
A person with extreme anger goes to the gym to box.
Sublimation