Psychoanalysis Defense Mechanisms 1

Question 1

What is the primary purpose of defense mechanisms in psychoanalytic theory?

Accepted Answer

To protect the ego from anxiety arising from conflicts between the id, ego, and superego

Answer

Defense mechanisms are unconscious strategies the ego employs to manage anxiety produced by conflicts among the id, ego, and superego.

Question 2

Which defense mechanism involves attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to another person?

Accepted Answer

Projection

Answer

Projection involves externalizing unacceptable internal feelings by perceiving them as belonging to someone else rather than oneself.

Question 3

Which defense mechanism is considered the most fundamental, forming the basis for all other defenses according to Freud?

Accepted Answer

Repression

Answer

Freud regarded repression as the cornerstone of all defenses because it is the primary mechanism by which threatening material is kept out of conscious awareness.

Question 4

A person who is furious at their boss but comes home and yells at their dog is demonstrating which defense mechanism?

Accepted Answer

Displacement

Answer

Displacement redirects an emotion from its original target to a safer or more accessible substitute object.

Question 5

Which defense mechanism involves channeling unacceptable impulses into socially valued activities, such as a person with aggressive drives becoming a surgeon?

Accepted Answer

Sublimation

Answer

Sublimation transforms socially unacceptable impulses into constructive, culturally approved behaviors and is considered one of the most mature defenses.

(Psychoanalysis) Psychoanalysis Theory Test Practice Test

(Psychoanalysis) Psychoanalysis Theory Test Practice Test

Psychoanalysis Defense Mechanisms 1