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
Splitting
Believing that people are all good or all bad at different times due to intolerance of ambiguity
- Borderline personality disorder
Sublimation
- MATURE
Replacing unacceptable wish with course of action that is similar to wish but does not conflict with one’s value system
- Teen aggression –> play sports
Altruism
- MATURE
Alleviate negative feelings via unsolicited generosity
- Mafia boss donates to charity
Suppression
- MATURE
Intentionally withholding an idea or feeling rom conscious awareness
- Temporary
- Don’t worry about big game until it’s time to play
Humor
- MATURE
Appreciating the amusing nature of an anxiety-provoking or adverse situation
- Nervous medical student jokes about the boards
