Defense Mechanisms - ASWB Study Guide Edited.

Defense Mechanisms - ASWB Study Guide Edited.Displacement -ANSWER directing an impulse, wish or feeling toward a person that is not its real object Ex: kicking a dog when you are mad at boss Dissociation -ANSWER a process which enables a person to split mental functions in a manner that allows him to express forbidden impulses without taking responsibility Ex: Daydreaming, doodling, being abused and mentally 'going away', multiple personalities (extreme) Idealization -ANSWER overestimation of an admired aspect or attribute of another Ex: having a crush Identification -ANSWER universal mechanism whereby a person patterns himself after a significant other, plays major role in personality development Ex: Schoolgirl wanting to dress like other girls but not realizing that's why she wants her mom to buy her those shoes. Similar to incorporation but less intense. Identification w/ Aggressor -ANSWER mastering anxiety by identifying with a powerful aggressor (abusive parent) to counter act feelings helplessness, i.e. repeating abuse Ex: Stockholm Syndrome Incorporation -ANSWER Primitive mechanism in which psychic representation of a person is figuratively ingested. Ex: Acquiring parents' values. Very primitive DM. Inhibition -ANSWER loss of motivation to engage in pleasurable activity because it might stir up conflict over forbidden impulses Ex: Sexual dysfunction Introjection -ANSWER loved or hated external objects are symbolically absorbed within self, i.e. in severe depression, unconscious unacceptable hatred is turned towards self. -Common in case of absent caregivers. Ex: Child imagines absent parents, incoporates their imagined qualities into himself. Isolation of Affect -ANSWER unacceptable impulse, idea, act is separated from its original memory source, thereby removing the original emotional charge associated with it. Ex: a person who has been abused is able to talk about it w/out any emotion; other people may wince.