Defense mechanism

Defense mechanism

·        By Dr. Sigmund Freud

·        Also known as Adjustment mechanism and Mental mechanism.

·        A defence mechanism is an unconscious psychological strategy adopted by the individual to tackle a frustrating situation.

·        It is a learned responses which develop unconsciously to meet a stress situation

·        It may be defined as any habitual method of overcoming blocks, reaching goals, satisfying motives and maintaining equilibrium.

·        A defence mechanism is a coping technique that reduces anxiety arising from unacceptable or potentially harmful impulses

·        Tension reduction activity

·        Every individual uses his own mechanism to maintain the balance of his personality in the society.

·        Defense mechanism helps the individual to preserve his self-concept and protects him from anxiety.

·        Comer (1992): “According to psychoanalytic theory, these are strategies developed by ego to control unacceptable id impulses and to avoid or reduce the anxiety”.

·        Morgan at al (2005): “unconscious strategies used to avoid anxiety, resolve conflict and enhance self-esteem”.

·        Is the unconscious strategy adopted by an individual to protect form ego, to minimize conflict, and to maintain repression.

Types of Defence Mechanism

1.      Aggression

·        It refers to forceful activity that can be in the form of either physical, verbal or symbolic or all three.

·        It arises from the frustration where individual attempts to hurt or destroy the source of frustration.

·        Extra punitive:- aggressive attitudes frustration to another person

·        Intra punitive: frustration to himself.

2.      Compensation

This is a mechanism in which an individual tries to balance or over-up his deficiency in one field by exhibiting his strength in another field.

Ex: a boy who fails in academic subjects may save his self-esteem by distinguishing himself in athletics, girls wore high-heeled shoes.

3.      Identification

·        It consists of adopting the feelings, attitudes and achievements of others as one’s own.

·        Here individual seeks satisfaction in associating himself in some way in the success of others.

·        Ex: children often identify themselves with their parents, film stars, cricket players or political leaders.

4.      Projection

·        Placing blame for one’s own actions or inadequacies on someone or else or circumstances-rather than accepting responsibility for their own actions.

5.      Rationalization

·        Use of a reasonable excuse or acceptable explanation for behavior.

·        It is a face saving devise by which the individual justifies his short-comings, failure and incompetence by giving false reasons.

·        kind of excuse making process.

·        Ex: a boy failed in maths make use of rationalization when he says the questions were out of syllabus.

Sour grapism:

·         Something we cannot get becomes something we did not want anyway.

·        Here individual attempt to rationalize his external conditions rather than upon his own inability.

·        Ex: failure to qualify UGC test, one might say, was a blessing as there are lot of unemployed UGC Holders.

Sweet Lemonism:

·        This refers to the attitude that what is already achieved is better than something that is usually considered more desirable of others.]

6.      Negativism

·        Refuse to co-operate and exhibit rebellious behaviour doing the opposite of what is normally expected.

·        This mechanism by which an individual draws the attention of others.

7.      Withdrawal

·        It is the retreating from situations which cause difficulties or refusing to face problems to avoid the danger of failure and hence the possible frustration.

8.      Regression

·        It is the mechanism of escape from reality by returning to behaviour appropriate at an earlier age.

·        In this the individual returns to less mature level of development to save his ego.

·        Ex: an adolescent girl who has been frustrated in fulfilling her needs may cry like a child, an old man, by taking of the good  olden days.

9.      Repression

·        An individual forgers by pushing down into the unconscious any thoughts that arouse anxiety.

·        It is an unconscious process where in painful experience, shameful thoughts etc. are removed from conscious mind by pushing down them to unconscious mind.

10. Sublimation

·        It involves a process of redirecting the socially unacceptable desires along desirable channels.

·        Frustrated sexual impulses are usually sublimated as creative effort in music, art and literature etc.

·        Ex: an unmarried women interested in children may give expression to her repressed maternal urges by becoming a nurse.

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