defense mechanisms Flashcards
Rationalization
a defense process by which plausible reasons justify an action or opinion.
▪ helps the person cope with disappointments by blaming external circumstances.
▪ A person is using __ when, after not getting a job he applied for, he thinks, “I’ll be better off at a different company.
▪ A person is using __ when, after getting turned down for a date, she says, “That person is really snobby.”
Repression
___ refuses to let into awareness unacceptable impulses but remains unconsciously operative in behavior.
▪ A person using __ 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.
▪ A person is using __ when, after years of celibacy, the person begins to eat copious amounts of food.
▪ A young boy exhibits __ when he has a phobia of dogs but cannot remember the first time he was afraid of them.
Displacement
a defense mechanism in which affect is transferred from one object to another.
▪ A person is using __ when he compulsively eats lollipops after having quit smoking.
▪ A person is using __ when she begins to compulsively wash her hands
after being shamed for masturbating.
▪ A man is using ___ when he yells at his spouse because he is unable to express anger toward his boss.
Identification
a process by which qualities of an external object are absorbed into one’s personality.
▪ A Bruce Lee fan is using__ when he becomes a disciplined martial art champion.
▪ A young person is using __when deciding to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a lawyer.
Intellectualization
a process by which content is separated from repressed affect.
▪ A person uses when speaking of his traumatic childhood as if reading a scripted story.
▪ A victim of sexual assault may use __by researching factual PTSD criteria instead of addressing her emotional pain in therapy
Asceticism
is characterized by rigor and self-denial.
▪ An adult uses __ when she refuses to eat or sleep until a major work project is complete.
▪ An adolescent uses __ to cope with sexual tension and desire by refusing to engage in all pleasurable activities
Reaction Formation
a process by which unacceptable impulses are expressed as their opposites.
▪ _ helps release anxiety and guilt associated with the true impulse.
▪ An angry supervisee uses __ when being overly nice to his supervisor.
Introjection and Internalization
__ is the internalization of outside events or characteristics of other people.
▪ A victim may use __ to identify with the aggressor’s behaviors to help protect himself.
▪ A person uses ___ when putting on her seat belt before driving away in her car
Projection
places unacceptable feelings from the person feeling them onto another
person.
▪ A highly anxious colleague is __ when complaining about another colleague’s anxieties.
▪ A person is using __ when he complains that no one likes him but in reality he does not like himself or others.
Denial
distorts reality and does not acknowledge emotion.
▪ A person is using __ when he continues to eat unhealthy foods despite his doctor’s orders to eat healthier.
▪ An alcoholic is in __ when she attends a recovery program but continues to drink alcohol.
Sublimation
A person using ___ will displace unacceptable instincts for constructive and socially acceptable behaviors.
▪ A person with major depression may use professional dance to help __ suicidal thoughts.
▪ A person with aggressive impulses may use __ by becoming a kickboxing instructor.
Undoing
is a process by which we avoid being punished for undesirable thoughts or actions.
▪ A spouse unconsciously __ his many adulterous acts by buying his partner lavish gifts.
▪ A person is overly nice to a person she had just insulted in her mind.
