Freud Defense Mechanisms

Defense Mechanisms

Defense mechanisms: Freud believed that part of the reason so much of personality resides in the unconscious is because many motives, thoughts, and feelings are threatening for us

to admit to ourselves. Thus, we develop means to keep those aspects outside of our consciousness by developing self-protective strategies. These strategies are called defense mechanisms and include the following.

a. Denial is refusing to acknowledge something.

b. Repression is pushing something out of your mind

so you do not think about it. You don’t actively deny it; rather, you just decide not to think about it and eventually forget it.

c. Reaction formation is convincing yourself of the opposite of what is actually true.

d. Projection is attributing an unwanted trait or thought to someone else.

e. Rationalization is coming up with a logical, rational (but false) explanation for a shameful thought or action.

f. intellectualization is converting a threatening trait or thought into a cold, intellectual fact.

g. Displacement is redirecting an unwanted impulse toward something more acceptable.

h. Regression is reverting to an earlier stage of life develop- ment when you are faced with conflict.

i. Sublimation is converting shameful impulses into some- thing noble; redirecting the energy to something more acceptable.

Defense Mechanisms Practice

Directions: Read the following scenario, then for each statement below, determine which defense mechanism is being used.

Although you love the class, respect the teacher, and dedicated a whole weekend to studying, you just discovered that you failed a test in your psychology class.

A. Denial D. Projection G. Regression

B. Displacement E. Rationalization H. Repression

C. intellectualization F. Reaction formation i. Sublimation

1. _Repression__ When the teacher hands you the test you failed, you honestly exclaim, “I don’t even remember taking the test!”

2. _Denial When the...