Defense Mechanisms Flashcards
What is compensation?
Counterbalance a perceived weakness by emphasizing a strength
What is denial?
Refusing to accept reality and act as if it doesn’t exist
What is displacement?
Transferring or discharging your emotions on a less threatening object
What is identification?
Identifying with something or someone else to increase your sense of self-worth
What is intellectualization?
Use intellectual processes of logic, reasoning and analysis to avoid expressing actual emotion
What is introjection?
Integrating others beliefs and values into your ego structure
What is isolation?
Separate memory from feeling
What is projection?
Attribute unacknowledged/unacceptable thoughts/behaviors to others
What is rationalization?
Excuse wrong actions by creating a self-serving explanation for what you did
What is reaction formation?
Take actions that are the opposite of your real desires
What is regression?
Returning to a previous state of development
What is repression?
Unconscious exclusion of a painful thought, impulse or memory
What is sublimation?
Channel unacceptable impulses into acceptable actions
What is suppression?
Conscious blocking of unpleasant memory or feelings
What is undoing?
Attempt to take back an unacceptable behavior or thought
