2 2 Defense Mechanism

Defense Mechanism s

• Repression: the active unconscious

process of keeping out or ejecting from the consciousness ideas or impulses that are unacceptable to the person • Denial: refusal to perceive or face reality as it actually exists • Acting out: the use of actions versus reflection or true experiencing of feelings to deal with stress or conflict • Rationalization: use of a contrived, socially acceptable and logical explanation to justify unpleasant

• Projection: attributing one’s own

unacceptable motives or characteristics to another person or group • Displacement: the discharge of pent-up feelings onto something or someone else in the environment that is less threatening than the original source of the feelings • Reaction formation: prevention of awareness or expression of unacceptable desires by adoption of opposite behaviors in an exaggerated way

• Intellectualization: the overuse of

abstract thinking or generalizations to control or minimize painful feelings • Undoing: atonement for or attempt to dissipate unacceptable acts or wishes • Compensation: counterbalance for deficiencies in one area by excelling in another area • Identification: incorporation of the image of an emulated person, then acting, thinking, and feeling like that person

• Introjection: treating something outside

the self as if it actually exists inside the self • Regression: returning to an earlier level of adaptation • Sublimation: modification of an instinctual but socially unacceptable impulse into a constructive acceptable behavior • Suppression: the conscious inhibition of an impulse, idea, or affect; the person has full awareness of the behavior • Humor: emphasis on ironic or amusing components of a crisis, conflict, or stressor

• Splitting: compartmentalization of

opposite-affect states and failure to to integrate positive and negative aspects of self or others, resulting in polarized images of self and others as all good or all bad • Self-Observation: reflection on one’s own behavior, thoughts, or feelings, followed by appropriate response • Self-assertion: expression of thoughts and feelings in direct ways that are not manipulative or intimidating • Altruism: devotion of self to serving others as a way to mange conflict and

• Affiliation: turning to others for support

and help when stressed or conflicted, without attempting to make others responsible for taking care of the person • Anticipation: anticipating consequences of events yet to come thinking of options, solutions, and alternatives • Help-Rejecting Complainer: repeated requests for help, suggestions, or advice that is then rejected • Passive Aggression: expression of aggression toward others in indirect or nonassertive ways; covert hostility and resentment masked by over-compliance

• Omnipotence: feeling or acting

superior to others or as if one has special abilities or powers • Isolation of Affect: separation of feelings from thoughts and ideas that are originally associated with them • Fantasy: gratification of frustrated desires, achievements, and relationships by substituting them with daydreams and imagery