Within Freud’s psychoanalytic approach to
understanding the personality, he proposes
the theory of defense mechanisms.
Defense mechanisms are unconscious mental
processes employed by the ego, the rational,
mediating part of one’s mind, in order to
reduce anxiety.
Repression is always used alongside other
defense mechanisms and is the act of keeping
anxiety producing thoughts out of the conscious
mind.
For example, someone may unconsciously repress
their desire to be in a relationship by feeling
inexplicably disgusted when seeing couples
kiss on television.
Reaction formation is when one replaces an
unacceptable wish with it’s opposite.
For example, if someone likes their sister’s
boyfriend, but knows that it’s unacceptable,
they may unconsciously convince themselves
that they hate their sister’s boyfriend
instead.
Rationalization is when one uses logic to
reason away anxiety producing thoughts.
For example, if someone breaks their mother’s
dishes, in order to push away thoughts of
their mother yelling at them, they may think
to themselves: “she never liked this dish
anyway, and we have plenty more.”
Projection is when one reduces anxiety by
attributing unacceptable impulses onto someone
else.
For example, if a father knows that he has
a weight problem that may cause serious health
problems later in life, he may unconsciously
project onto his children, by making them
painfully aware of their own weight problems
from a very young age.
Another example, is if one of those children
are learning about the manifestation of anxiety
or insecurity in class, they may project their
resentment by using specific examples of their
father’s behavior in their definitions.
Regression is when one retreats to a mode
of behavior from an earlier stage of development
in order to deal with anxiety provoking situations.
For example, if someone is losing an argument,
they may involuntarily say something childish,
like: “shut up!”
Or “no one likes you anyway!”
Displacement is when an irrational, impulsive
drive directed toward one activity is redirected
to a more acceptable activity.
For example, if someone fails their test,
instead of yelling at the teacher, they may
yell at a younger, less threatening sibling
instead.
Sublimation is displacement to activities
that are accepted by society.
For example, instead of yelling at anyone,
that person may relieve their tension by painting
or singing.
