Psychology Chapter 3: Defense Mechanisms

What is the primary function of defense mechanisms?

Which defense mechanism involves replacing an unacceptable wish with its opposite?

What is the basis for all other defense mechanisms?

Which defense mechanism reduces anxiety by shifting an unacceptable impulse toward a more acceptable object or person?

What is a form of displacement in which sexual urges are channeled into non-sexual activities valued by society?

Which defense mechanism involves unconsciously neutralizing an anxiety-causing action by doing a second action that undoes the first?

Defense Mechanisms

Unconscious mental processes used by the ego to reduce anxiety by distorting reality
Employed to avoid feelings of anxiety, guilt, and other negative emotions

Types of Defense Mechanisms

Repression: pushes anxiety-producing thoughts, feelings, and memories into the unconscious mind
Denial: refusal to admit that something unpleasant is happening
Regression: retreating to a more comfortable, infantile stage of life
Reaction Formation: replacing an unacceptable wish with its opposite
Projection: reducing anxiety by attributing unacceptable impulses or problems to someone else
Rationalization: displacing real, anxiety-provoking explanations with more comforting justifications for one's actions
Displacement: shifting an unacceptable impulse towards a more acceptable or less threatening object or person
Sublimation: a form of displacement in which sexual urges are channeled into non-sexual activities valued by society
Undoing: unconsciously neutralizing an anxiety-causing action by doing a second action that undoes the first

Test your knowledge of defense mechanisms, including repression, denial, regression, and reaction formation. Learn how the ego reduces anxiety through unconscious mental processes.