In psychoanalytic theory, defense mechanisms are unconscious psychological processes that protect the self from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and external stressors. Defences are automatically used to protect ourselves from threats and affects to maintain psychological balance and homeostasis. Defenses are automatic responses to external stressors or internal conflicts.
Healthy people have a fully developed sense of "object constancy", knowing that bad and good can exist at the same time in the same person. A defense mechanism can become pathological when its persistent use leads to maladaptive behaviour such that the physical or mental health of the individual is adversely affected. Among the purposes of defense mechanisms is to protect the mind/self/ego from anxiety or to provide a refuge from a situation with which one cannot cope at that moment.
Examples Examples of defense mechanisms include: repression, the exclusion of unacceptable desires and ideas from consciousness; identification, the incorporation of some aspects of an object into oneself;Chalquist, Craig. "A Glossary of Freudian Terms" 2001. Retrieved on 05 October 2013. rationalization, the justification of one's behaviour by using apparently logical reasons that are acceptable to the ego, thereby further suppressing awareness of the unconscious motivations; and sublimation, the process of channeling libido into "socially useful" disciplines, such as artistic, cultural, and intellectual pursuits, which indirectly provide gratification for the original drives.
History In the first definitive book on defence mechanisms, The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence (1936),Freud, A. (1936). The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence, London: Hogarth Press and Institute of Psycho-Analysis. (Revised edition: 1966 (US), 1968 (UK)) Anna Freud enumerated the ten defence mechanisms that appear in the works of her father, Sigmund Freud: repression, regression, reaction formation, isolation, undoing, projection, introjection, turning against one's own person, reversal into the opposite, and sublimation or displacement.Lipot Szondi (1956) Ego Analysis Ch. XIX, translated by Arthur C. Johnston, p. 268
Sigmund Freud posited that defence mechanisms work by distorting id impulses into acceptable forms, or by unconscious or conscious blockage of these impulses. Anna Freud considered defense mechanisms as intellectual and motor automatisms of various degrees of complexity, that arose in the process of involuntary and voluntary learning.
Anna Freud introduced the concept of signal anxiety; she stated that it was "not directly a conflicted instinctual tension but a signal occurring in the ego of an anticipated instinctual tension". The signalling function of anxiety was thus seen as crucial, and biologically adapted to warn the organism of danger or a threat to its equilibrium. The anxiety is felt as an increase in bodily or mental tension, and the signal that the organism receives in this way allows for the possibility of taking defensive action regarding the perceived danger.
Both Freuds studied defence mechanisms, but Anna spent more of her time and research on five main mechanisms: repression, regression, projection, reaction formation, and sublimation. All defence mechanisms are responses to anxiety and how the consciousness and unconscious manage the stress of a social situation.Hock, Roger R. "Reading 30: You're Getting Defensive Again!" Forty Studies That Changed Psychology. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2013. 233–38. Print.
Repression: the exclusion of unacceptable desires and ideas from consciousness, though in certain circumstances they may resurface in a disguised or distorted form Regression: falling back into an early state of mental/physical development seen as "less demanding and safer" Projection: possessing a feeling that is deemed as socially unacceptable and instead of facing it, that feeling or "unconscious urge" is seen in the actions of other people Reaction formation: acting the opposite way that the unconscious instructs a person to behave, "often exaggerated and obsessive". For example, if a wife is infatuated with a man who is not her husband, reaction formation may cause her to – rather than cheat – become obsessed with showing her husband signs of love and affection. Sublimation: seen as the most acceptable of the mechanisms, an expression of anxiety in socially acceptable ways
Robert Plutchik's (1979) theory views defences as derivatives of basic emotions, which in turn relate to particular diagnostic structures. According to his theory, reaction formation relates to joy (and manic features), denial relates to acceptance (and histrionic features), repression to fear (and passivity), regression to surprise (and borderline traits), compensation to sadness (and depression), projection to disgust (and paranoia), displacement to anger (and hostility) and intellectualization to anticipation (and obsessionality).Plutchik, R., Kellerman, H., & Conte, H. R. (1979). A structural theory of ego defences and emotions. In C. E. Izard (Ed.), Emotions in personality and psychopathology (pp. 229–-257). New York: Plenum Press.
Different theorists have different categorizations and conceptualizations of defence mechanisms. Large reviews of theories of defence mechanisms are available from Paulhus, Fridhandler and Hayes (1997)Paulhus, D.L., Fridhandler B., and Hayes S. (1997). Psychological defense: Contemporary theory and research. In and Cramer (1991).Cramer, P. (1991). The Development of Defense Mechanisms: Theory, Research, and Assessment. New York, Springer-Verlag. The Journal of Personality published a special issue on defence mechanisms (1998).Special issue [on defense mechanisms], Journal of Personality (1998), 66 (6): 879–1157
DSM-IV-TR classification The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) published by the American Psychiatric Association (1994) includes a tentative diagnostic axis for defence mechanisms.American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. This classification is largely based on Vaillant's hierarchical view of defences, but has some modifications. Examples include: denial, fantasy, rationalization, regression, isolation, projection, and displacement. However, additional defense mechanisms are still proposed and investigated by different authors. For instance, in 2023, time distortion was proposed in a publication as a newly identified ego defense.
High adaptive level Anticipation Affiliation Altruism Humor Self-Assertion Self-Observation Sublimation Suppression Mental inhibitions (compromise formation) level Displacement Dissociation Intellectualization Isolation of Affect Reaction Formation Repression Undoing Minor image-distorting level Devaluation Idealization Omnipotence Disavowal level Denial Projection Rationalization Major image-distorting level Autistic fantasy Projective identification Splitting of self-image or image of others Action level Acting Out Apathetic withdrawal Help-rejecting complaining Passive aggression Level of defensive dysregulation Delusional projection Psychotic denial Psychotic distortion
PDM-2 classification Healthy level of organization Flexibility (personality) Neurotic level of organization Rigidity (psychology) Inner conflict Borderline level of organization Defenses ("primitive", "immature", or "costly") Splitting Identity diffusion Projective identification Denial Withdrawal Omnipotent control Acting out Somatization Dissociation Primitive idealization Primitive devaluation Emotional dysregulation Relational problems Self-destructive behavior Impulsivity Psychotic level of organization Defenses to terrifying anxieties Psychotic denial Autistic withdrawal Distortion Delusional projection Fragmentation Concretization Thought disorder Inappropriateness Annihilation anxiety Certainty Identity diffusion Severe deficits in reality testing Delusions
Transference-focused psychotherapy classification
Otto F. Kernberg developed a theory of borderline personality organization of which one consequence may be borderline personality disorder. His theory is based on ego psychological object relations theory. Borderline personality organization develops when the child cannot integrate helpful and harmful mental objects together. Kernberg views the use of primitive defence mechanisms as central to this personality organization. Primitive psychological defences are projection, denial, dissociation or splitting and they are called borderline defence mechanisms. Also, devaluation and projective identification are seen as borderline defences.
Mature defenses Suppression Anticipation Altruism Humor Sublimation Repression-based defenses Repression Isolation of affect Intellectualization Reaction formation Neurotic projection Displacement Splitting-based defenses Splitting Projective identification Lower-level idealization Devaluation Omnipotent control Lower-level denial
Gabbard's classification Most adaptive Humor Altruism Sublimation Suppression More adaptive Isolation of affect Intellectualization Rationalization Displacement Somatization Undoing Reaction formation Identification Excessive emotionality Externalization Sexualization Repression Turning against the self Less adaptive Splitting Projection Pathological idealization and devaluation Projective identification Denial Dissociation Acting out Regression
Vaillant's categorization Psychiatrist George Eman Vaillant introduced a four-level classification of defence mechanisms. Much of this work is derived from his observations while overseeing the Grant Study, a longitudinal investigation that began in 1937 and continues to the present. In monitoring a cohort of Harvard men from their freshman year through late adulthood, Vaillant sought to determine which psychological mechanisms influenced long-term adaptation and life outcomes. The hierarchy of defences was found to correlate with overall psychological maturity and the capacity to adapt effectively to life’s challenges. The overarching aim of the study was to define the characteristics of mental health rather than psychopathology.
Level I – pathological defences (psychotic denial, delusional projection) Level II – immature defences (fantasy, projection, passive aggression, acting out) Level III – neurotic defences (intellectualization, reaction formation, dissociation, displacement, repression) Level IV – mature defences (humour, sublimation, suppression, altruism, anticipation)
Level 1: pathological When predominant, the mechanisms on this level are almost always severely pathological. These defences permit the individual to radically reshape external reality in order to avoid coping with it. Pathological users of these mechanisms may appear irrational or insane to others. These are the “pathological” defences, commonly observed in overt psychosis, although they also appear in dreams and in normal childhood development.
They include: Delusional projection: Delusions about external reality, usually of a persecutory nature. Denial: Refusal to accept external reality because it is too threatening; resolving emotional conflict and reducing anxiety by rejecting or failing to acknowledge unpleasant aspects of reality. Distortion: A gross reshaping of external reality to meet internal needs.
Level 2: immature These mechanisms are often present in adults. They lessen distress and anxiety produced by threatening people or by an uncomfortable reality. Excessive use of such defences is seen as socially undesirable, in that they are immature, difficult to deal with, and seriously out of touch with reality. These defences are often seen in major depression and personality disorders.
They include: