6 Questions
What is the primary function of defense mechanisms?
To reduce anxiety by distorting reality
Which defense mechanism involves replacing an unacceptable wish with its opposite?
Reaction formation
What is the basis for all other defense mechanisms?
Repression
Which defense mechanism reduces anxiety by shifting an unacceptable impulse toward a more acceptable object or person?
Displacement
What is a form of displacement in which sexual urges are channeled into non-sexual activities valued by society?
Sublimation
Which defense mechanism involves unconsciously neutralizing an anxiety-causing action by doing a second action that undoes the first?
Undoing
Study Notes
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.
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