Freudian Defense Mechanisms

• Defense Mechanisms are ways we Defense Mechanisms are ways we cope with stress....cope with stress....

• ways of deceiving oneself about ways of deceiving oneself about the causes of a stressful situations the causes of a stressful situations so that pressure, frustration, so that pressure, frustration, conflict, and anxiety are reducedconflict, and anxiety are reduced

Freudian Defense Mechanisms

• DenialDenial– refusal to acknowledge a painful or refusal to acknowledge a painful or

threatening realitythreatening reality

• RepressionRepression– a form of forgetting... means a form of forgetting... means

excluding painful thoughts from excluding painful thoughts from consciousness (most extreme form is consciousness (most extreme form is amnesia)amnesia)

Freudian Defense Mechanisms

• Projection Projection – projecting the attribution of one’s own projecting the attribution of one’s own

repressed motives, ideas, or feelings repressed motives, ideas, or feelings on to others. We ascribe our feelings on to others. We ascribe our feelings to someone else, thus locating the to someone else, thus locating the source of our conflict outside source of our conflict outside ourselves.ourselves.

Freudian Defense Mechanisms

• RationalizationRationalization– subtle form of denial. We realize that subtle form of denial. We realize that

we are threatened but detach we are threatened but detach ourselves from our problems by ourselves from our problems by analyzing and intellectualizing them.analyzing and intellectualizing them.

• RegressionRegression– people who become fixated are likely people who become fixated are likely

to display immature childlike traits to display immature childlike traits

Freudian Defense Mechanisms

• Reaction FormationReaction Formation– the ego unconsciously makes the ego unconsciously makes

unacceptable impulses look like their unacceptable impulses look like their opposite.opposite.

• DisplacementDisplacement– redirection of repressed redirection of repressed

motives/emotions from their original motives/emotions from their original objects to substitute objectsobjects to substitute objects