Ego Defense Mech

Question 1

Acting out

Answer 1

expressing unacceptable feelings through actions

• tantrums

Question 2

Denial

Answer 2

Behaving as if an aspect of reality does not exist/avoiding the awareness of some painful reality

• common in cancer/AIDS pt

Question 3

Displacement

Answer 3

Transferring avoided ideas and feelings to a neutral person or object (vs projection)

• mom yells at child because her husband yelled at her

Question 4

Passive aggression

Answer 4

Avoiding conflict by expressing hostility covertly/failing to meet the needs-expectations of others as an indirect show of opposition

• disgruntled employee is repeatedly late to work

Question 5

Projection

Answer 5

Attributing one’s own feelings to other/attributing an unacceptable internal impulse to an external source (vs displacement)

• man who wants to cheat on his wife accuses his wife of being unfaithful

Question 6

Rationalization

Answer 6

Justifying behavior to avoid difficult truths/proclaiming logical reasons for actions actually performed for other reasons, usually to avoid self-blame

• after getting fire, claiming that the job was not important anyway

Question 7

Reaction Formation

Answer 7

Responding in a manner opposite to one’s actual feelings/replacing a warded-off idea or feeling by an (unconsciously derived) emphasis on its opposite (vs sublimation)

Question 8

Regression

Answer 8

Reverting to earlier developmental stage/involuntarily turning back the maturational clock and going back to earlier modes of dealing with world (vs fixation)

• seen in children under stress such as illness, punishment, birth of new sibling

Question 9

Splitting

Answer 9

Seeing others as all bad or all good (commonly seen in borderline personality disorder)

Question 10

Sublimation

Answer 10

Channeling impulses into socially acceptable behaviors/replacing an unacceptable wish with a course of action that is similar to the wish but does not conflict with one’s value system (vs reaction formation)

• teenager’s aggression toward his father is redirected to perform well in sports

Question 11

Suppression

Answer 11

Putting unwanted feelings aside to cope with reality/intentionally withholding an idea or feeling from conscious awareness (vs repression); temporary

• choosing not to worry about the big game until it is time to play

Question 12

Dissociation

Answer 12

Temporary, drastic change in personality , memory, consciousness, or motor behavior to avoid emotional stress

• extreme forms can result in dissociative ID disorder (multiple personality disorder)

Question 13

Fixation

Answer 13

Partially remaining at a more childish level of development (vs regress)

• adults fixating on video games

Question 14

Idealization

Answer 14

Expressive extremely positive positive thoughts of self and others while ignoring negative thoughts

Question 15

Identification

Answer 15

Modeling behavior after another person who is more powerful (though not necessarily admired)

• abused child later becomes a child abuser

Question 16

Mature ego defenses (4)

Answer 16

1. sublimation
2. altruism
3. suppression
4. humor

(Mature adults wear a SASH)

Question 17

Altruism

Answer 17

alleviating negative feelings via unsolicited generosity

Question 18

Humor

Answer 18

appreciating the amusing nature of an anxiety-provoking or adverse situation

• nervous medical student jokes about the boards

Question 19

Intellectualization

Answer 19

Using facts and logic to emotionally distance oneslef from a stressful situation

• in a therapy session, pt diagnosed with cancer focuses only on rates of survival

Question 20

Isolation (of affect)

Answer 20

separating feelings from ideas and events

• describing murder in graphic detail with no emotional response

Question 21

Repression

Answer 21

Involuntarily withholding an idea or feeling from conscious awareness (vs suppression)