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Common Defensive Coping Mechanisms

Terms in this set (15)

Compensation
Making up for real or imagined weaknesses in one area
Denial
Refusing to acknowledge thoughts or impulses that are unacceptable to self
Displacement
Directing feelings about a person who is threatening to self to another person who is less threatening to self
Identification
Attempting to change oneself unconsciously for the purpose of resembling someone who is admired
Intellectualization
Using excessive reasoning ability to minimize or avoid feelings associated with distressing events or occurrences
Introjection
Incorporating the values and characteristics of another into oneself
Minimization
Refusing to acknowledge importance or significance of one's behavior
Projection
Transferring unacceptable desires, throughts, or internal feelings to another
Rationalization
Justify unacceptable feelings or behavior by using faulty logic or applying false but socially acceptable motives to behavior
Reaction formation
Behaving or displaying attitudes that are exactly the opposite of those that are felt
Regression
Reverting back to an earlier, less well-developed stage of functioning to deal with an uncomfortable reality
Repression
Using an unconscious process to block threatening or unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or desires to keep them from becoming conscious
Sublimation
Displacing energy associated with unacceptable needs or drives into more socially acceptable activities
Substitution
Replacing a highly valued but unattainable or unacceptable object with a less satisfying but acceptable and available one
Undoing
Using words or actions to cancel out previous unacceptable thoughts or behaviors in an attempt to relieve guilt by making reparation
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