Defense MechanismsFear: a reaction to an obvious danger

Fright: our mental state when we encounter unanticipated fear; surprise; startle

Anxiety: the mental state of being preparing for an unknown danger—to protect the ego from fright.

But the Pleasure Principle makes all three of these undesirable…

“If man bases much of his behavior on animal instincts, then these instincts act in such as way as to allow us to seek pleasure and avoid pain. This seeking pleasure and avoiding pain takes energy. However, this energy remains constant in quantity. It can be changed but not destroyed. Energy used to seek pleasure and/or avoid pain, that is thwarted, will emerge in another way or another form.”

Sigmund Freud

Repression: Ego places conscious painful events into the unconscious to protect itself from the pain associated with it

-Molestation

-Sexual desires unresolved from childhood stages

-Repressed feelings may emerge in disguised forms (jokes, slips of the tongue, or dreams).

Reaction Formation: Acting in oppositefashion from unconscious desire

-Homosexual impulses countered by “gay bashing”

-Lack of confidence countered by overconfidence

Projection: Defending against motives, desires, and character traits that you are not willing to recognize in your self by attributing them to others

-“My boss hates me.” (You may really hate him)

-“This teacher stinks.” (You failed the test)

Rationalization: Interpreting motive and behavior in a way that makes the person look good to self and others

-Unconscious effort to enhance self concept in a threatening position

-Cheating on a test: “Everyone else cheated too” or “That information is not worth taking the time to know anyway.”

Regression: Retreat from a higher level development to an earlier stage

-A three-year-old with a new sibling “forgets” how to go potty like a big girl

Displacement: Shifting emotion from one person or object to another

-Angry at your boyfriend so you speed

-Punished child hits younger sibling

Sublimation: Id urges are redirected by the ego into socially acceptable behaviors

-Art, writing, working out

Compensation: Emphasizing a strength in another area of your life rather than dealing with an inferiority

-Home life is bad, but the business you own booms

-Single mom spoils child with toys

Identification: Identify with someone you admire and act like them instead of resolving the issue

-The pressure parents may feel to fit a certain “perfect family” image

Fantasy: Imagine yourself somewhere else or as someone else

-Daydreaming

Emotional Insulation: Apathy—not allowing yourself to feel the pain any longer

-Get hurt in a relationship = no more relationships

Undoing: Overcompensating to make up for a mistake

-Flowers after a fight

Denial: rejecting or refusing to acknowledge an inevitable reality

-Couple breaks up, but boyfriend keeps calling

Conversion: expressing emotional stress

through bodily symptoms

-Child doesn’t want to go to school, so feels “sick”