Ego-Defense Mechanisms

Ego-Defense Mechanisms

People’s reactions to various stimuli and provocations differ and are influenced by numerous factors. One of the factors that affect people’s reactions involves ego-defense mechanisms. Introduced by Freud, ego-defense mechanisms entail the motives and resources of the unconscious in individuals, thereby reducing internal stress (Bailey & Pico, 2020). Additionally, ego-defense mechanisms involve the ego, internal drive (id), and superego, whereby the ego influences the id while the superego impacts the ego. Accordingly, as people are placed in different circumstances, their reactions are influenced by the id, such as instincts to control the id. The ego utilizes ego-defense mechanisms by blocking or distorting unconscious motives. There are numerous ego-defense mechanisms, including repression, denial of reality, displacement, projection, identification, undoing, rationalization, reaction formation, regression, and intellectualization (Olson et al., 2019).

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The two ego-defense mechanisms to explore are projection and repression. Ego-defense mechanisms protect people from reality in two ways: blocking or distorting unconscious motives. On the one hand, projection is an ego-defense mechanism that involves casting or displacing an undesirable trait or emotion onto another individual rather than oneself (Arumndari, 2018). Accordingly, projection involves distorting emotions or traits from the unconscious by projecting them on others, thereby protecting the individual from reality. For instance, a person who considers themselves a drunkard might say that another person has alcoholism, mocking that they need help, while this is actually what the individual thinks of themselves.

On the other hand, repression is an ego-defense mechanism that involves preventing traumatic or painful experiences from getting to the conscious mind by burying them in the unconscious (Bailey & Pico, 2020). Consistently, repression involves blocking emotions and experiences in the unconscious from reaching conscious awareness, thereby protecting the individual from reality. For instance, a person who has nosocomephobia might be a person who, as a child, might have been through numerous traumatic experiences involving hospitals, such as losing parents, and may have no recollection of the occurrences by blocking them out.

References

Arumndari, N. (2018). Fergus Boggs’ Imbalanced System of Personality and His Defense Mechanisms As Seen In the Marble Collector by Cecelia Ahern. Core.ac.uk. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/158284361.pdf.

Bailey, R., & Pico, J. (2020). Defense Mechanisms. Statpearls [Internet]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559106/#__NBK559106_dtls__.

Olson, M., Hergenhahn, B., & Favero, D. (2019). An Introduction to Theories of Personality (9th ed.). Pearson.

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Ego-Defense Mechanisms

What is an Ego-Defense Mechanism? Choose two ego-defense mechanisms from our reading and for each one:

1. Explain how the specific defense mechanisms work to protect us from reality. Find and cite an article to support your thinking for each one of the defense mechanisms you selected.
2. Give a descriptive example of how someone may use these defense mechanisms in their life (for example, an alcoholic may use denial because…to…).
3. Respond to at least one other student who has selected a different defense mechanism than you have chosen.
Textbook:
Olson, M. H., Favero, D., & Hergenhahn, B. H. (2019). An Introduction to Theories of Personality (9th Edition). Pearson Education (US). https://purdueuniversityglobal.vitalsource.com/books/9780134792927