Ego Defenses Flashcards
Acting Out
Unacceptable feeling/though –> action
Ex. tantrum
Denial
Avoiding awareness of painful reality
Displacement
Transfer avoided ideas/feelings to a neutral person or object
- Ex. mother yells at child because husband yelled at her
Dissociation
Temporary & drastic change in personality/memory/consciousness/motor behavior to avoid emotional stress
- Dissociative identity disorder
Fixation
Partially remaining at more childish level of development
- Ex. adults fixated on video games
Idealization
Expressing extremely positive thoughts of self/others while ignoring negative thoughts
- Ignore flaws
Identification
Modeling behavior after another person who is more powerful
- Ex. abused child later becomes child abuser
Intellectualization
Use facts & logic to emotionally distance oneself from a stressful situation
- Cancer patients focus on rates of survival
Isolation
Separating feelings from ideas/events
- Describe a murder in graphic detail with no emotional response
Passive Aggression
Fail to meet needs/expectations of others as indirect show of opposition
- Employee repeatedly late to work
Projection
Attributing an unacceptable internal impulse to an external source
- Ex. man who wants to cheat on his wife accuses her of being unfaithful
Rationalization
Proclaiming logical reasons for actions actually performed for other reasons
- Usually to avoid self blame
Reaction Formation
Replacing warded-off idea/feeling by (unconsciously derived) emphasis on its opposite
- Girls have cooties
Regression
Involuntarily turning back maturational clock
- Kids under stress wet the bed
Repression
Involuntary witholding of idea/feeling from conscious awareness
- Don’t remember going to counseling
