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Defense Mechanisms — Previous Year Questions

📊 Topic Overview​

MetricValue
Total Questions5 (2.2%)
Priority🟡 MEDIUM — Section B and C
NoteSub-component of Freud's theory — see also Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory

📝 Master Answer — Section B (250 words / 6 marks)​

Q. Describe various defense mechanisms. (6 marks)​

Also: "Explain the structural model of personality and give examples of any two defense mechanisms." (2024-Dec B6 — 3+3 marks)

Defense Mechanisms

Defense mechanisms are unconscious psychological strategies employed by the ego to manage anxiety arising from conflicts between id impulses, superego demands, and external reality. First systematised by Sigmund Freud and elaborated by Anna Freud (1936), they operate automatically and outside conscious awareness. All involve some degree of self-deception — distorting or denying aspects of reality.

Major Defense Mechanisms:

  1. Repression (primary defense): Involuntary exclusion of threatening thoughts, memories, or impulses from conscious awareness. Foundation of most other defenses.
    Example: Forgetting a traumatic childhood event.

  2. Projection: Attributing one's own unacceptable impulses or traits to others.
    Example: A person who is angry at their boss believes their boss hates them.

  3. Rationalisation: Providing logical, socially acceptable reasons for behaviour motivated by unacceptable impulses.
    Example: "I didn't get the job because the interviewers were biased" (rather than acknowledging poor preparation).

  4. Reaction Formation: Converting an unacceptable impulse into its opposite.
    Example: A person with unconscious hostility toward a sibling displays exaggerated affection.

  5. Displacement: Redirecting an impulse from its original threatening target to a safer substitute.
    Example: A person yelled at by their boss comes home and yells at their spouse.

  6. Sublimation (most mature): Channelling unacceptable impulses into socially valued activities.
    Example: Aggressive drives channelled into competitive sport or surgery.

  7. Regression: Reverting to behaviours characteristic of an earlier developmental stage under stress.
    Example: An adult throwing a temper tantrum when frustrated.

  8. Denial: Refusing to accept a threatening reality.
    Example: A patient refusing to accept a terminal diagnosis.

Summary: Defense mechanisms exist on a continuum from primitive (denial, projection) to mature (sublimation, humour). Excessive reliance on primitive defenses characterises personality pathology.

🧠 Memory Aid​

8 mechanisms: "RPRRD-SSD"
Repression, Projection, Rationalisation, Reaction formation, Displacement, Sublimation, Regression, Denial

💡 Exam Tips​

  • Always name at least 6 mechanisms with brief definitions and examples — listing fewer loses marks.
  • Sublimation as the "healthiest" mechanism and repression as the "primary" one are key distinctions.
  • For Section C: definition of defense mechanisms + list 4 mechanisms with one-word examples. ~100 words.