Psychoanalysis Defense Mechanisms 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What defense mechanism is operating when a person has no conscious memory of a traumatic event because the memory has been pushed out of awareness?
- Suppression
- Repression (Correct answer)
- Dissociation
- Denial
Correct answer: Repression
Repression is the involuntary exclusion of threatening memories or impulses from conscious awareness, distinguishing it from the voluntary suppression.
Question 2: A patient discusses their terminal diagnosis in detached, clinical language with no visible emotional distress. This best illustrates:
- Denial
- Repression
- Intellectualization (Correct answer)
- Suppression
Correct answer: Intellectualization
Intellectualization involves using abstract, analytical thinking to distance oneself from the emotional impact of an anxiety-provoking situation.
Question 3: Which defense mechanism involves an individual reverting to behaviors characteristic of an earlier developmental stage when faced with stress, such as an adult throwing a temper tantrum?
- Fixation
- Regression (Correct answer)
- Repression
- Undoing
Correct answer: Regression
Regression is the return to earlier, more primitive modes of functioning when the ego is overwhelmed by anxiety or frustration.
Question 4: Splitting, as a defense mechanism, is characterized by:
- Dividing the self into multiple personalities to avoid trauma
- Inability to integrate positive and negative qualities of self and others, perceiving them as all-good or all-bad (Correct answer)
- Projecting negative qualities onto others while retaining positive ones
- Separating emotional content from cognitive content in memory
Correct answer: Inability to integrate positive and negative qualities of self and others, perceiving them as all-good or all-bad
Splitting reflects a failure to integrate ambivalent feelings, resulting in people or situations being perceived as entirely good or entirely bad.
Question 5: Which defense mechanism involves performing a ritual or symbolic act to cancel out or 'take back' a previous unacceptable thought or action?
- Undoing (Correct answer)
- Reaction formation
- Isolation of affect
- Denial
Correct answer: Undoing
Undoing involves a symbolic act or thought that attempts to negate or reverse a previous unacceptable action or impulse, often seen in obsessive-compulsive presentations.
Question 6: The defense mechanism of identification involves:
- Consciously imitating the behavior of a role model
- Unconsciously adopting the characteristics or values of another person to manage anxiety (Correct answer)
- Projecting one's own traits onto another person to reduce guilt
- Merging one's sense of self with a larger group ideology
Correct answer: Unconsciously adopting the characteristics or values of another person to manage anxiety
Identification is an unconscious process through which a person incorporates another's characteristics into their own ego structure as a way of managing anxiety or loss.
Question 7: Rationalization as a defense mechanism is best described as:
- Using logical reasoning to prevent emotional responses
- Constructing plausible-sounding justifications for behaviors actually driven by unconscious motives (Correct answer)
- Intellectually analyzing a problem to gain distance from it
- Consciously deciding not to think about a disturbing event
Correct answer: Constructing plausible-sounding justifications for behaviors actually driven by unconscious motives
Rationalization involves creating logical or socially acceptable explanations for behavior that was actually motivated by unconscious impulses or desires.
Psychoanalysis Defense Mechanisms 2
What defense mechanism is operating when a person has no conscious memory of a traumatic event because the memory has been pushed out of awareness?