Ego Defense Mechanisms Flashcards
Compensation
Overachievement in one area to offset real or perceived deficiencies in another area
Conversion
Expression of an emotional conflict through the development of a physical symptom, usually sensorimotor in natur
Denial
failure to admit the reality of a situation or how one enables the problem to continue
Displacement
Ventilation of intense feelings toward persons less threatening than the one who aroused those feelings
Dissociation
Dealing with emotional conflict by a temporary alteration in consciousness or identity
Fixation
that people act out behaviors from the stage of psychosexual development in which they are fixated
Identification
Modeling actions and opinions of influential others while searching for identity, or aspiring to reach a personal, social, or occupational goal
intellectualization
An unconscious means of protecting oneself from the emotional stress and anxiety associated with confronting painful personal fears or problems by excessive reasoning.
introjection
Accepting another person’s attitudes, beliefs, and values as one’s own
Projection
Unconscious blaming of unacceptable inclinations or thoughts on an external object
Rationalization
Excusing own behavior to avoid guilt, responsibility, conflict, anxiety, or loss of self-respect
Reaction Formation
Acting the opposite of what one thinks or feels
Regression
Moving back to a previous developmental stage to feel safe or have needs met
Repression
Excluding emotionally painful or anxiety-provoking thoughts and feelings from conscious awareness
Resistance
unconscious opposition to the unveiling and exploration of painful memories during psychoanalysis.
Sublimation
Substituting a socially acceptable activity for an impulse that is unacceptable
Substitution
Replacing the desired gratification with one that is more readily available
Suppression
Conscious exclusion of unacceptable thoughts and feelings from conscious awareness
Undoing
Exhibiting acceptable behavior to make up for or negate unacceptable behavior
Nurse with low self-esteem working double shifts so that her supervisor will like her
compensation
Teenager forbidden to see X-rated movies is tempted to do so by friends and develops blindness, and the teenager is unconcerned about the loss of sight
Conversion
Diabetic person eating chocolate candy
Denial
Person who is mad at the boss yells at his or her spouse
Displacement
Amnesia that prevents recall of yesterday’s auto accident
Dissociation
Never learning to delay gratification
Fixation
Nursing student becoming a critical care nurse because this is the specialty of an instructor she admires
Identification
Person shows no emotional expression when discussing serious car accident
Intellectualization
Person who dislikes guns becomes an avid hunter, just like a best friend
introjection
Man who has thought about same-gender sexual relationship but never had one beats a man who is gay
Projection
Student blames failure on teacher being mean
rationalization
Woman who never wanted to have children becomes a supermom
reaction formation
Man pouts like a 4-year-old if he is not the center of his girlfriend’s attention
regression
Woman has no memory of the mugging she suffered yesterday
repression
Nurse is too busy with tasks to spend time talking to a dying patient.
Resistance
Person who has quit smoking sucks on hard candy when the urge to smoke arises
Sublimation
Woman who would like to have her own children opens a day care center
substitution
Student decides not to think about a parent’s illness to study for a test
Suppression
Person who cheats on a spouse brings the spouse a bouquet of roses
undoing
