Defense Mechanisms

Question 1

denial

Answer 1

refusal to accept the situation/reality

Question 2

distortion

Answer 2

exaggerated reshaping of reality

Question 3

acting out

Answer 3

expression of an unconscious impulse without the awareness that the emotion is driving the behavior

Question 4

idealization

Answer 4

putting another person on a pedestal

Question 5

passive aggression

Answer 5

aggression towards another expressed indirectly

Question 6

projection

Answer 6

shifting someone’s unacceptable thoughts onto another person or thing

Question 7

somatization

Answer 7

transfer of negative feelings toward yourself in the form of self-harm, pain, or anxiety

Question 8

displacement

Answer 8

redirecting intense emotions from its source to something or someone less threatening

Question 9

intellectualization

Answer 9

use of academic type explanation to separate personal feelings from the painful or emotional event

Question 10

isolation

Answer 10

separation emotionally or physically from the emotional trigger

Question 11

rationalization

Answer 11

when a person convinces themselves what they did was ok through distorted or incorrect reasoning

Question 12

reaction formation

Answer 12

someone acts the opposite from how they feel

Question 13

regression

Answer 13

reversion to an earlier state of development

Question 14

anticipation

Answer 14

realistic planning for the future or future emotions

Question 15

compensation

Answer 15

substituting one goal for another to feel successful

Question 16

sublimation

Answer 16

conscious decision to redirect an emotion into an activity or action

Question 17

thought suppression

Answer 17

consciously pressing undesirable thoughts out of mind

Question 18

level I: pathological defenses

Answer 18

to rearrange external experiences to eliminate the need to cope with reality

Question 19

level II: immature defenses

Answer 19

more common in adolescents, to lessen stress, frustration, and/or anxiety prompted by an uncomfortable reality

Question 20

level III: neurotic defenses

Answer 20

have short-term advantages, but in the long-term consequences may avail

Question 21

level IV: mature defenses

Answer 21

adapted through experience in order to optimize success in life and relationships