As you learned earlier in the course, the best way to remember something is to r

Question

As you learned earlier in the course, the best way to remember something is to relate it to something that you already know.

Study the following 12 defense mechanisms and provide an example / illustration of each. Your examples can be real life, or they can come from a movie / show, or you can make them up:

Compensation

Denial

Fantasy

Identification

Intellectualization

Isolation

Projection

Rationalization

Reaction formation

Regression

Repression

Sublimation

This resource may be helpful:

http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/ss/defensemech.htm

Explanation / Answer

The term compensation refers to a type of defense mechanism in which people overachieve in one area to compensate for failures in another. For example, individuals with poor family lives may direct their energy into excelling above and beyond what is required at work. This psychological strategy allows people to disguise inadequacies, frustrations, stresses or urges by directing energy toward excelling or achieving in other areas. Compensation can manifest itself in a few different ways. Overcompensation occurs when people overachieve in one area to make up for shortcomings in another aspect of life. Undercompensation, on the other hand, can happen when people deal with such shortcomings by becoming overly dependent on others. A young man feels that is is a poor athlete and never get picked for teams during his physical education class. He overcompensates by becoming deeply engaged in other school activities including the drama club and the school newspaper. A student feels inferior during math class and undercompensates by becoming overly dependent upon her teacher and classmates for academic assistance. Denial is simply refusing to acknowledge that an event has occurred. The person affected simply acts as if nothing has happened, behaving in ways that others may see as bizarre.In its full form, it is totally subconscious, and sufferers may be as mystified by the behavior of people around them as those people are by the behavior of the sufferers. It may also have a significant conscious element, where the sufferer is simply 'turning a blind eye' to an uncomfortable situation. For example;People take credit for their successes and find 'good reason' for their failures, blaming the situation, other people, etc. Alcoholics vigorously deny that they have a problem. Projection is a psychological defense mechanism in which individuals attribute characteristics they find unacceptable in themselves to another person. For example, a husband who has a hostile nature might attribute this hostility to his wife and say she has an anger management problem. Projection can be said to provide a level of protection against feelings a person does not wish to deal with. Engaging in either complimentary and complementary projection can allow people to feel more like others or relate to them easily. Complementary projection occurs when individuals assume others feel the same way they do. For example, a person with a particular political persuasion might take it for granted that friends and family members share those beliefs. Complimentary projection is the assumption other people can do the same things as well as oneself. For example, an accomplished pianist might take it for granted that other piano students can play the piano equally well. Idealisation involves creating an ideal impression of a person, place or object by emphasising their positive qualities and neglecting the those that are negative. Idealisation adjusts the way in which we perceive the world around us and can lead us to make judgement that support our idealised concepts. People often idealise their recollections of being on holiday or memories from childhood, seeing them as ‘happier times’, but fail to recollect arguments or stresses during those periods. We often idealise the image we hold of people we admire - relatives, partners or celebrities, making excuses for their failures and emphasising their more admirable qualities. The defense mechanism of isolation can lead a person to separate ideas or feelings from the rest of their thoughts. In distinguishing an emotion or impulse from others in this way, a person attempts to protect the ego from anxieties caused by a specific situation. For example, a person with a particularly stressful job may use isolation to separate their work life from their family life, avoiding the stress affecting their relationships. Due to time limit,remaining can be asked as another question,they will be answered,thankyou for your cooperation

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