Defense mechanisms are psychological strategies unconscious to the individual, with the help of which a person avoids or reduces the intensity of negative states such as conflict, frustration, anxiety and stress. The main difference between defensive automatisms and coping strategies is the unconscious inclusion of the former and the conscious, purposeful use of the latter.

The concept of “defense mechanisms” was introduced by S. Freud to refer to the technique that the Ego uses in conflicts leading to neuroses. With neurosis, patients complain of emotional disorders, which are based on a person’s experience of an internal conflict, a collision of particularly significant personal relationships with the circumstances of a life situation that contradict them. A person’s inability to resolve such a conflict causes an increase in internal tension and discomfort. 3. Freud showed that at this difficult moment for a person, special psychological mechanisms are activated that protect consciousness from unpleasant, traumatic experiences. The activation of defense mechanisms is accompanied by a subjective feeling of relief or relief from tension.

Anna Freud (daughter of Z. Freud) emphasized the role of defense mechanisms in resolving external, that is, sociogenic conflicts; She views these mechanisms as products of development and learning. A. Freud put forward the idea that the set of defense mechanisms is individual and characterizes the level of adaptation of the individual. Subsequently, defense mechanisms began to be considered not only as a neurotic symptom, but also as a function of the self of the conscious part of the personality of any person. When the integrity of the individual is threatened, it is the defense mechanisms that are responsible for its integration and adaptation to real circumstances.

Types of psychological defense mechanisms

To date, more than two dozen defense mechanisms have been described, but the most studied are eight: denial, repression, compensation, regression, projection, replacement, intellectualization, and reactive formation.

N.M. Nikolskaya and R.M. Granovskaya differentiate 11 defense mechanisms in their study.

­ crowding out. Selective intentional forgetting of information related to conflict and tension. This is the displacement of unpleasant things (desires, thoughts, feelings that cause anxiety) from memory. Repressed impulses, although not resolved in behavior, nevertheless retain their emotional and psycho-vegetative components. For example, a typical situation is when the meaningful side of a psychotraumatic situation is not realized, and a person represses the very fact of some unseemly act, but the intrapsychic conflict persists, and the emotional stress caused by it is subjectively perceived as outwardly unmotivated anxiety. Most often, personal properties, qualities and actions are repressed that do not make the person attractive in the eyes of the person himself and other people, for example, envy, ill will, ingratitude, etc. Psychotraumatic circumstances or unwanted information are repressed from the subject’s consciousness, passing into the subconscious, although outwardly it may appear as a deliberate resistance to recollection and introspection.

­ Negation– the person either denies some frustrating, anxiety-inducing circumstances, or changes his interpretation of the situation in order to perceive it as less threatening. Denial involves those aspects of external reality that, although obvious to others, are nevertheless not accepted or recognized by the person himself (for example, when a person reports the death of a relative, he does not perceive this news and does not want to believe it). As a process directed outward, denial is often opposed to repression - psychological defense against internal, instinctive demands and impulses. Denial is characterized by an outwardly distinct distortion of the perception of reality.

Suppression. In this case, a person avoids disturbing thoughts and tries not to focus on them. Suppression usually involves switching to something else, diverting attention from unpleasant thoughts (avoidance thinking). Thus, when suppressed, unpleasant thoughts are blocked by other, neutral or pleasant ones (when repressed, the thought is completely inaccessible to consciousness).

Regression- a mechanism of psychological defense, thanks to which a person, in his behavioral reactions, seeks to avoid anxiety, switching to a type of response inherent in an earlier stage of life. With this form of defensive reaction, a person exposed to frustrating factors replaces the solution of subjectively more complex problems with relatively simpler ones that are accessible in the current situation. The use of simpler and more familiar behavioral stereotypes significantly impoverishes the ability to overcome conflict situations. This type of psychological defense is more likely to be characteristic of psychopathic individuals with their impulsiveness and weakness of volitional control.

Identification. By activating this mechanism, a person accepts personal characteristics(features of behavior) of another person. For example, without enough courage, a person identifies himself with a heroic personality, which gives him more confidence in his abilities. Can imitate the behavior of a cult figure - this increases significance in his own eyes. Thus, identification as a mechanism of psychological defense manifests itself in attempts to find a suitable replacement for a real or imaginary shortcoming or personality defect with another quality, most often through fantasizing or assigning to oneself the properties, virtues, values, and behavioral characteristics of another person. At the same time, borrowed values, attitudes or thoughts are accepted without analysis and restructuring and therefore do not become part of the personality itself.

Compensation. A person makes significant efforts to achieve success in an area where he feels inferior. Another manifestation of compensatory defense mechanisms is overcoming frustrating circumstances or situations through over-satisfaction in other areas. For example, a physically weak or timid person who is unable to respond to threats of violence finds satisfaction in humiliating the offender with the help of a sophisticated mind or cunning.

Projection. At the heart of this defense mechanism is the process by which unconscious and unacceptable feelings and thoughts for the individual are attributed to other subjects. Often a person attributes aggressiveness to others in order to justify his own aggressiveness or hostility, allegedly manifested for defensive purposes. There are well-known examples of hypocrisy, when someone constantly attributes their own immoral aspirations to others. Less common is another type of projection, in which significant persons(usually from the microsocial environment) positive, socially approved feelings, thoughts or actions are attributed.

Substitution. The action of this protective mechanism is manifested in the discharge of suppressed emotions (usually hostility, anger) on objects that pose less danger or are more accessible than those that caused negative emotions. For example, an open manifestation of annoyance or anger at a certain person can be fraught with an unwanted conflict with him, so the anger is transferred to another object, more accessible and not dangerous. 3. Freud considered substitution one of the basic ways of functioning of the unconscious.

Intellectualization. This defense mechanism is often (especially in the psychotherapeutic literature) referred to as “rationalization,” although in essence they are somewhat different. Thus, the effect of intellectualization is manifested in an overly mental way of overcoming a frustrating situation - without experiencing, only on the basis of an analysis of facts.

Rationalization. The difference between intellectualization and rationalization, according to F.E. Vasilyuk, is that it essentially represents a departure from the world of impulses and affects into the world of words and abstractions. With rationalization, a person creates logical (pseudo-reasonable), but plausible justifications for his or someone else’s behavior, actions or experiences caused by reasons that he (the person) cannot recognize due to the threat of losing self-respect. This defense mechanism is associated with the use of good, rather than real, justification for one’s behavior.

Reactive education. According to 3. Freud, if there is a danger of a repressed threatening impulse returning to consciousness, a person can strengthen the repression by behaving in a manner diametrically opposed to this impulse. For example, if someone is threatened by repressed homosexual urges, then in order to increase their repression, that person may choose to engage in excessive heterosexual activity. In essence, reactive education is countermotivated behavior. This type of psychological defense is often identified with overcompensation.

There is evidence about the role of typological features in the use of certain types of psychological defense. Persons with a predominance of the first signal system according to I.P. Pavlova (or the emotional type according to Lazarus) uses denial and suppression, and persons with a predominance of the second signaling system (rational type according to Lazarus) use projection, repression and rationalization.

INTRODUCTION

Psychological protection - a system of mechanisms aimed at minimizing negative experiences associated with conflicts that threaten the integrity of the individual.

All people are susceptible to the influence of external and internal environmental factors that negatively affect the human psyche. With the help of psychological defense mechanisms, a person has always guarded and protected his psyche from stress.

Modern man also uses defense mechanisms. It is this circumstance that gives me the right to assert that this topic relevant and currently.

Purpose This work is to consider the mechanisms of psychological defense.

In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to decide several tasks, namely:

reveal the concept of psychological protection,

consider the main characteristics of protective mechanisms,

become familiar with the types of psychological defense mechanisms.

1. CONCEPT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PROTECTION

“Every day we perform some actions, say something, judge something and somehow justify our actions. At first glance, we do all this consciously, but is this always the case in reality?” 1 Most often, in these situations, psychological defense mechanisms appear, with the help of which a person overcomes conflicts that give rise to anxiety.

Psychological defense is a system of mechanisms aimed at minimizing negative experiences associated with conflicts that threaten the integrity of the individual.

The term “psychological defense” was first introduced by Sigmund Freud in 1894, in his work “Defensive Neuropsychoses” and was used in a number of his subsequent works to describe the struggle of the “I” against painful or unbearable thoughts and affects. Freud meant by it primarily "repression", but later - in 1926 - in the appendix to the work "Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety", he argues that the concept of "defense mechanism" refers to all the techniques that the "I" uses in conflict and which can lead to neurosis, leaving the word “repression” for a special method of defense.”

The term was later developed in more detail by other psychoanalysts, most notably Anna Freud. At the moment, this concept, in one form or another, has entered the practice of most psychotherapists, regardless of the direction of psychology that they adhere to.

2. Psychological defense mechanisms

Defensive behavior allows a person to protect himself from those problems that he cannot yet resolve, allows him to relieve anxiety, and “get away from a threatening reality.” “Such mechanisms “protect” the psyche, “protect” it from unbearable stress” 2.

The defense mechanisms themselves often give rise to more and more new problems, and a person hides his real problem, replacing it with new “pseudo-problems”.

Psychoanalysts Calvin Hall and Gardner Lindsay identified two main characteristics of defense mechanisms:

denial or distortion of reality

action on an unconscious level - this is their difference from various behavioral strategies, including manipulative ones.

The perception of not only internal, but also external reality is subject to distortion and denial: “I” can protect itself both by ignorance of the existence of certain needs and instincts, and by ignorance of the existence of external objects” 3.

Most often, people use defense mechanisms not one at a time, but in combination. In addition, most people tend to "prefer" some defenses over others, as if their use were a matter of habit.

2.1. Types of defense mechanisms.

There is no generally accepted classification of mental defense mechanisms, although many authors have published their own. The main complaints about most classifications are either insufficient completeness or excessive completeness.

The need to identify individual defense mechanisms is associated with the practical need of psychologists to identify and describe the most universal of unconscious defense processes.

Most modern psychologists recognize a certain set of defense mechanisms, the names of which have become almost universal.

Let's consider the basic psychological defense mechanisms.

Crowding out.

S. Freud considered this mechanism to be the main way of protecting the infantile “I”, which is unable to resist temptation. “Repression” is a defense mechanism through which impulses of desire, thoughts, feelings that are unacceptable to the individual, causing anxiety, are “expelled from consciousness” and transferred to the sphere of the unconscious. At the same time, they influence the behavior of the individual, manifesting themselves in the form of anxiety, fear, etc.

“Describing this phenomenon, 3. Freud cites an interesting observation by Charles Darwin: “For many years,” writes Charles Darwin in his autobiography, “I followed the golden rule; namely: when I came across a published fact, observation or idea that contradicted the main results of my research, I immediately wrote it down; I have found from experience that such facts and ideas slip from memory much more easily than favorable ones." 4

Intentional suppression of traumatic feelings and memories is quite common, but it is not repression because... repression is not done intentionally.

Sometimes difficulties are accompanied not only by memories of the traumatic event itself, but also by neutral incidents associated with it, then repression is called motivated forgetting.

Substitution.

This is a common form of psychological defense, sometimes called "displacement." It is associated with transferring an action from an inaccessible object to an accessible one. Those feelings that should have been directed toward the disturbing object are transferred to another that is more accessible and not “dangerous.” For example, “aggression towards superiors is sometimes taken out on members of the employee’s family” 5 . There is another type of substitution, when some feelings are replaced with the opposite. “In television reports about football matches, we often see how an attacker who misses the goal sends the rebounding ball with a strong blow, in any direction. In this way, the accumulated energy is discharged” 6 .

Identification.

This is a defense mechanism in which a person identifies himself with someone else. In the process of identification, one person unconsciously becomes like another. Identification leads to imitation of the actions and experiences of another person.

Identification also has a positive aspect: with its help, the individual assimilates social experience, masters new properties and qualities. “In the practice of education, it has been noticed that in a family a son identifies himself with his father, and a daughter with her mother. In labor relations, a young specialist finds an example for himself, a role model, whom he can follow in his efforts to master professional skills” 7 .

Negation.

This is the process of eliminating, ignoring negative, anxiety-provoking circumstances. As a rule, the action of this mechanism is manifested in the denial of those aspects of external reality that, although obvious to others, are not accepted or recognized by the person himself. This mechanism is known as the "ostrich position". “The first reaction of a patient who learns from a doctor about a serious illness will be: “I don’t believe it, it can’t be!” " 8 . In the case of this protective reaction of the psyche, when any negative information for him appears in the person’s perception zone, he unconsciously denies its existence.

Projection.

With projection, a person attributes his own undesirable traits to others, and in this way protects himself from awareness of these same traits in himself. “So, disliking someone and wishing harm to someone, a person, with the help of the projection mechanism, begins to sincerely think that it is that person who is plotting something evil against him” 9 . “A stingy person, as a rule, sees in other people primarily greed..., and an aggressive person considers everyone around him to be cruel” 10. Examples of hypocrisy are well known, when a person constantly attributes his own immoral aspirations to others.

Sometimes there is another type of projection, in which positive thoughts or actions that can elevate are attributed to significant persons.

Rationalization.

This is a defense mechanism that masks the true motives of his actions, thoughts and feelings from the consciousness of the subject himself, in order to ensure internal comfort and create his own positive image of himself. Often this mechanism is used by a person to prevent the experience of guilt or shame. After committing some actions or deeds dictated by unconscious motives, a person tries to understand them, rationally explain them, attributing more noble motives to them. Such attempts may be perceived as justification to others or to oneself.

Regression.

During regression, a person, in order to avoid a neurotic conflict, unconsciously returns to that period of the past, to early, childhood types of behavior that were successful at that stage. That is, regression is “the return of the individual from higher forms of behavior to lower ones” 11.

Thus, an adult in difficult situations strives to avoid internal anxiety and loss of self-esteem. I often evaluate regression as a negative personal mechanism (for example, infantilism). "Infantility - in psychology is understood as a feature of the mental make-up of a person, in which traits characteristic of more early age, such as instability, immaturity of judgment, capriciousness, subordination, lack of independence" 12.

Reactive formations.

In the case of this defensive reaction, a person unconsciously translates the transformation of one mental state into another (for example, hatred into love, and vice versa). This mechanism is very interesting, because indicates that a person’s real actions are unimportant, because they can only be the result of a veiled distortion of his true desires. For example, excessive anger in other cases is only an unconscious attempt to veil interest and good nature, and ostentatious hatred is a consequence of love that frightened a person who unconsciously decided to hide it behind an attempt to openly splash out negativity.

Psychological defense mechanisms are used for adequate self-esteem of the individual, but they are needed not only by professional psychotherapists. Almost all people use them unconsciously. Knowing the mechanisms of psychological defense helps you work with your consciousness, understand the behavior and consciousness of other people, and also try to adjust and correct your actions and actions.

CONCLUSION

The concept of “psychological defense” was introduced by S. Freud to designate the struggle of the “I” against painful thoughts. With the help of defense mechanisms, a person protects the psyche from negative emotions and experiences.

Defense mechanisms have 2 characteristics: denial and action on an unconscious level.

Main species mechanisms are:

repression is a mechanism by which unpleasant thoughts are “expelled” from consciousness;

substitution - transfer of emotions from one object to a more acceptable replacement;

identification - identifying oneself with someone else;

denial – unconscious denial of existing negative information;

projection – attributing one’s own undesirable traits to other people;

rationalization is a process where a person unconsciously invents logical judgments and conclusions to explain his failures;

regression - the effect of this mechanism is that a person, in order to avoid conflict, unconsciously returns to that period of the past when everything was fine for him;

reactive formations - the action of this mechanism is the unconscious transformation of one mental state into another.

Most often, people use defense mechanisms not one at a time, but in combination.

In my work, only a short list was given of the mechanisms that are used for protection. But at the same time, the considered mechanisms give an idea of ​​the characteristics of interpersonal interactions. At the same time, the very fact of the existence of protective mechanisms in the psyche brings us closer to understanding the mechanisms of influence of one person on another.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Averchenko L.K., Andryushina T.V. Psychology and pedagogy. - M.: INFRA-M, 1999.

Godefroy J. What is psychology. Volume 2. - M.: Mir, 1992.

Dubrovina I.V. Psychology: Textbook for students. avg. ped. textbook Establishments. - M.: SPHERE, 2005. P. 464.

Leibin V.M. Psychoanalysis. 2nd ed. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2008.

Meshcheryakova B.G., Zinchenko V.P. Large psychological dictionary. – M.: Prime-Eurosign, 2003.

Freud A. Psychology of the Self and defense mechanisms. – M.: Pedagogy, 1993.

Freud. Z. Psychology of the unconscious. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2008.

Introduction

In situations where the intensity of a need increases and the conditions for its satisfaction are absent, behavior is regulated using psychological defense mechanisms.

Psychological defense is defined as a normal mechanism aimed at preventing behavioral disorders not only within the framework of conflicts between consciousness and the unconscious, but also between different emotionally charged attitudes.

This special mental activity is realized in the form of specific techniques for processing information, which can protect the individual from shame and loss of self-esteem in conditions of motivational conflict.

Psychological defense is manifested in a person’s tendency to maintain a familiar opinion about himself, rejecting or distorting information regarded as unfavorable and destroying initial ideas about himself and others.

The concept of psychological defense in the concept of S. Freud

For the first time, S. Freud turned to the concept of psychological defense in his work “Neuropsychology of Defense” (1894). Freud proposed the following concept of personality. The mental apparatus of an individual is divided into three areas.

1. “It” is the unconscious instinctive region of impulses and instincts that strive for satisfaction, obeying the principle of pleasure.

2. “I” is the conscious area. The main task of the “I” is censorship of impulses emanating from the “It” region. For this censorship, the “I” uses psychological defense mechanisms.

3. “Super Ego” – heir to the Oedipus complex. The area of ​​moral assessment is the ideal “I”, awareness of what the “I” should look like in accordance with the requirements of society and public morality.

Based on his concept of the individual’s mental apparatus, S. Freud put forward the following provisions:

1. The leading role in human behavior and in his mental life is played by the unconscious. The content of the unconscious is made up of innate instincts. According to Freud, there are two such instincts: sexual (“eros” or libido) and aggression, the desire for destruction (“thanatos”). In addition, the content of the unconscious includes desires and affects that are repressed from consciousness due to their unacceptability or undesirability (cultural unacceptability or traumaticity for the subject).

2. The drives of the unconscious are in conflict with cultural norms.

S. Freud argued that human instincts are by nature asocial and selfish. Social norms are a rein that is placed on them and thereby makes it possible for people to live together.

3. Mental and social development of a person goes through establishing a balance between instincts and cultural norms . Thus, in the process of development, a person’s self is forced to constantly seek a compromise between the energy of the unconscious rushing out and what is allowed by society.

4. This balance, compromise is established through the protective mechanisms of the psyche. A defense mechanism is a specific change in the content of consciousness that occurs in a situation of internal conflict.

Defense mechanisms come into play when achieving a goal in a normal way is impossible or when a person believes that it is impossible. It is important to emphasize that these are not ways to achieve the desired goal, but ways of organizing partial and temporary peace of mind in order to gather strength to actually overcome the difficulties that have arisen, that is, resolving the conflict through appropriate actions. In this case, people react differently to their internal difficulties. Some, by denying their existence, suppress tendencies that make them uncomfortable and reject some of their desires as unrealistic and impossible.

Adaptation in this case is achieved through changes in perception.

At first, the person denies what is not desirable, but gradually can get used to this orientation, actually forget the painful signals and act as if they do not exist.

Other people overcome conflicts by trying to manipulate the objects that bother them, trying to take control of events and change them in the desired direction.

Still others find a way out in self-justification and indulgence in their motives, while others resort to various forms of self-deception.

It would be especially difficult and sometimes impossible for individuals with a particularly rigid system of behavioral principles to act in a diverse and changing environment if protective mechanisms did not protect their psyche.

Defense mechanisms can be effective or ineffective (depending on whether a person manages to cope with the energy of the unconscious without pathological symptoms).

Thus, psychological defense mechanisms are a way for the “I” to fight against painful experiences that are unbearable for the subject.

All psychological defense mechanisms distort reality in order to preserve mental health and integrity of the individual. In this case the price of mental health:

- distorted reality

– distorted image of “I”,

– distorted external world.

Psychological defense mechanisms are formed initially in interpersonal relationships, then become internal characteristics of a person, i.e. In individual experience, one or another protective form of behavior is learned.

Main features psychological defense mechanisms (intrapsychic defense mechanisms):

1) impulsiveness (psychological defense mechanisms do not depend on the will);

2) distortion of reality;

3) lack of awareness by the subject of protective forms of behavior.

Main functions psychological defense mechanisms:

1) maintaining personal integrity,

2) maintaining mental health, a certain “I-image”. Moreover, as has been established in the studies of various psychologists, it is important for a person to maintain not so much a prosperous, but rather a familiar, stable idea of ​​himself. This very clearly demonstrates the so-called “discomfort of success.” Its essence is that a person who is accustomed to failure, having achieved success, victory, strives to reduce it to a minimum, to devalue it;

3) regulation of interpersonal relationships.

Psychological defense mechanisms

One of the situations in which defense mechanisms are activated is frustration.

Frustration- This mental condition a person if obstacles arise on his way to achieving the goal that he perceives as insurmountable.

Psychological defense mechanisms usually include denial, repression, projection, identification, rationalization, inclusion, replacement, alienation and others.

Sublimation(literally translated as “sublimation”) is one of the defense mechanisms, which is a subconscious replacement of one forbidden or practically unattainable goal with another, permitted and more accessible, capable of at least partially satisfying the current need.

Sublimation is a kind of transfer of the energy of the unconscious into a socially acceptable direction. Thus the sexual instinct can be sublimated through artistic creativity, or through caring for the underprivileged, or even through affection for pets. Aggression can be sublimated through some professions (for example, the military profession) or sports achievements.

This defense mechanism can manifest itself in completely different ways. For example, a person who cannot realize himself in the business sphere begins to devote a lot of time to his hobby or, experiencing emotional difficulties, eats a lot.

Negation comes down to the fact that information that is disturbing and can lead to conflict is not perceived.

This refers to a conflict that arises when motives appear that contradict the basic attitudes of the individual, or information that threatens self-preservation, prestige, and self-esteem.

This method of defense comes into play in conflicts of any kind, without requiring prior training, and is characterized by a noticeable distortion of the perception of reality.

Denial is formed in childhood and often does not allow a person to adequately assess what is happening around him, which, in turn, causes difficulty in behavior.

crowding out– the most universal way of avoiding internal conflict by actively turning off an unacceptable motive or unpleasant information from consciousness.

Repression is an unconscious psychological act in which unacceptable information or motive is censored at the threshold of consciousness.

Injured pride, hurt pride and resentment can give rise to declaring false motives for one’s actions in order to hide the true ones not only from others, but also from oneself.

True, but unpleasant motives are repressed so that they are replaced by others that are acceptable from the point of view of the social environment and therefore do not cause shame and remorse.

A false motive in this case can be dangerous because it allows one to cover up personal egoistic aspirations with socially acceptable arguments.

The repressed motive, without finding resolution in behavior, retains its emotional and vegetative components.

Despite the fact that the meaningful side of the traumatic situation is not realized and a person can actively forget the very fact that he committed some unseemly act, nevertheless, the conflict persists, and the emotional-vegetative tension caused by it can be subjectively perceived as a state of vague anxiety. Therefore, repressed drives can manifest themselves in neurotic and psychophysiological symptoms.

PAGE_BREAK--

Projection- the unconscious transfer of one’s own feelings, desires and inclinations, which a person does not want to admit to himself, understanding their social unacceptability, to another person.

When a person has shown aggression towards someone, he often has a tendency to reduce the attractive qualities of the victim.

A person who constantly attributes to others his own aspirations that contradict his own moral standards, received a special name - bigot.

There are different types of projections.

Complementary- attributing to another a state that is absent in the subject, but in addition to the state of the subject (for example, if I experience jealousy, then I attribute betrayal to another).

Attributive– a naive judgment with a lack of knowledge (“others are the same as us”). Example: students who, according to teachers, often cheat, believe that all students cheat.

Similative– attribution of one’s own qualities, which the subject is not aware of, to other people. For example, parents may attribute their own negative traits to their child.

Pangloss-Cassandra. Pangloss is the hero of one of Voltaire's stories. This hero saw the world through rose-colored glasses. Cassandra predicted the death of Troy and projected a feeling of doom onto the outside world. The opposite of what the subject feels is attributed to another person (I attribute hatred towards me to the other, but I myself feel love for him).

Pangloss: I myself feel hostility towards the world (unconsciously), I assume that everyone loves me. Cassandra is the opposite. This type of protection is aimed at overcoming the tendency to become very close to other people.

Both positive and negative experiences can be attributed. Denial diverts attention from painful ideas and feelings, but does not make them completely inaccessible to consciousness. A person simply ignores painful realities and acts as if they do not exist.

Identification- unconscious transference to oneself of feelings and qualities inherent in another person and not accessible, but desirable for oneself.

In children, this is the simplest mechanism for assimilating norms of social behavior and ethical values.

So, the boy unconsciously tries to be like his father and thereby earn his warmth and respect.

Through identification, symbolic possession of a desired but unattainable object is also achieved.

Rationalization- a pseudo-reasonable explanation by a person of his own desires and actions, which were actually caused by reasons, the recognition of which would threaten the loss of self-esteem.

In particular, it is associated with an attempt to reduce the value of the inaccessible.

Rationalization is used by a person in those special cases when he, fearing to realize the situation, tries to hide from himself the fact that his actions are motivated by motives that are in conflict with his own moral standards.

A method of psychological defense close to rationalization is inclusion, which also overestimates the significance of the traumatic factor.

For this, a new global system of values ​​is used, of which the old system is included as a part, and then the relative importance of the traumatic factor decreases against the background of other, more powerful ones.

An example of inclusion-type protection could be catharsis - the relief of internal conflict through empathy.

If a person observes and empathizes with the dramatic situations of other people, which are significantly more painful and traumatic than those that worry him, he begins to look at his own troubles differently, evaluating them in comparison with those of others.

Intellectualization– a fact-based, overly “mental” way of experiencing and discussing conflicts. It is finding acceptable reasons for unacceptable thoughts and actions.

Usually they invent some kind of explanation for their failures or failures, which in reality are based on other reasons. For example, a doctor who cannot achieve success in treatment due to his incompetence explains his failures with the help of various scientific theories, the complexity of the disease, etc.

Somatization- going into illness.

Suppression– limiting thoughts and actions in order to avoid those that may cause anxiety (for example, some people do not fly on airplanes).

Asceticism– denial, denying oneself pleasure (food, sleep, exercise, sexual satisfaction). Mostly occurs in adolescents during puberty.

Fantasizing- escape to the world of dreams, where all desires come true, where you are smart, strong, beautiful and lucky. Some simply run into the world of dreams, others fantasize out loud, publicly, talking about their “incredibly famous” friends or relatives. Such “positive self-demonstration” should serve to increase a person’s value in the eyes of others.

Substitution– transfer of an action aimed at an inaccessible object to an action with an accessible object.

Substitution discharges the tension created by an inaccessible need, but does not lead to the desired goal.

When a person fails to perform the action necessary to achieve the goal set for him, he sometimes makes the first meaningless movement that comes along, providing some kind of release to internal tension.

Such substitution is often visible in life when a person takes out his irritation, anger, annoyance caused by one person, on another person or on the first object he comes across.

Isolation or alienation– isolation within the consciousness of factors traumatic to a person.

In this case, unpleasant emotions are blocked from accessing consciousness, so that the connection between an event and its emotional coloring is not reflected in consciousness.

This type of defense resembles “alienation syndrome,” which is characterized by a feeling of loss of emotional connection with other people, previously significant events or one’s own experiences, although their reality is recognized.

The phenomena of derealization, depersonalization and split personality may be associated with such protection.

The selectivity of a person’s attitude towards the group and collective is associated with the mediation of psychological defense.

It is a kind of filter that turns on when there is a significant mismatch of one’s own value system and an assessment of one’s own actions or the actions of loved ones, separating desirable influences from undesirable ones, those that correspond to the beliefs, needs and values ​​of the individual from those that do not.

It is useful to keep in mind that the influence of psychological defense can help maintain a person’s internal comfort even when he violates social norms and prohibitions, since, by reducing the effectiveness of social control, it sets the stage for self-justification.

If a person, having a generally positive attitude toward himself, allows into consciousness the idea of ​​his imperfection, of shortcomings manifested in specific actions, then he takes the path of overcoming them.

He can change his actions, and new actions transform his consciousness and thereby his entire subsequent life.

If information about the discrepancy between desired behavior that maintains self-esteem and real actions is not allowed into consciousness, then conflict signals turn on psychological defense mechanisms and the conflict is not overcome, i.e. a person cannot take the path of self-improvement.

Only by translating unconscious impulses into consciousness can one achieve control over them, acquiring greater power over one’s actions and increasing self-confidence.

Study

Object of study: group of people

Purpose of the study: to identify the relationship between the type of temperament and the strategy of psychological defense in communication.

Method: survey

The study includes two tests: to determine the type of temperament and to diagnose the dominant strategy of psychological defense in communication. After one person performs two tests, the results are determined and the characteristics of interest are compared.

Application:

Test “Diagnostics of the leading defense strategy in communication with partners”

Test instructions

Choose the answer option that suits you best

Test material

Knowing yourself, you can say:

I more like a person peaceful, flexible;

I am rather a flexible person, able to bypass difficult situations and avoid conflicts;

I'm more of a direct, uncompromising, categorical person.

When you mentally sort things out with your offender, most often:

looking for a way to reconcile;

are considering a way to avoid dealing with him;

you are thinking about how to punish him or put him in his place.

In a controversial situation, when your partner is clearly not trying or does not want to understand you, you are most likely to:

you will calmly try to ensure that he understands you;

try to curtail communication with him;

you will get angry, offended or angry.

Continuation
--PAGE_BREAK--

If, in defending your important interests, you feel that you might quarrel with a good man, That:

make significant concessions;

give up your claims;

you will defend your interests.

In a situation where they are trying to offend or humiliate you, you are most likely to:

try to be patient and see the job through to the end;

diplomatically withdraw from contacts;

give a worthy rebuff.

In interaction with a powerful and at the same time unfair leader, you:

will be able to cooperate in the interests of the cause;

try to have as little contact with them as possible;

you will resist his style, actively protecting your interests.

If the solution to the issue depends only on you, but your partner has hurt your pride, then you:

you will meet him halfway;

move away from a specific decision;

resolve the issue not in favor of your partner.

If one of your friends occasionally makes offensive attacks against you, you:

you won’t attach much importance to it;

try to limit or stop contacts;

give a worthy rebuff every time.

If your partner has complaints against you and is annoyed at the same time, then you are more accustomed to:

first reassure him, and then respond to complaints;

avoid a showdown with a partner in this state;

put it in its place or interrupt it.

If one of your colleagues starts telling you about the bad things that others say about you, then you:

listen tactfully to the end;

ignore it;

interrupt the story mid-sentence.

If your partner is too assertive and wants to get benefits at your expense, then you:

you will make a concession for the sake of peace;

avoid making a final decision in the hope that your partner will calm down and then you will return to the question;

make it clear to your partner that he will not benefit at your expense.

When you are dealing with a partner who acts on the principle of “getting more,” you:

patiently achieve your goals;

prefer to limit interaction with him;

decisively put such a partner in his place.

When dealing with an insolent person, you:

approach it through patience and diplomacy;

keep communication to a minimum;

use the same methods.

When the arguer is hostile to you, you usually:

calmly and patiently overcome his mood;

withdraw from communication;

besiege him or respond in kind.

When you are asked unpleasant, probing questions, you most often:

answer them calmly;

avoid direct answers;

“get excited”, lose your composure.

When acute disagreements arise between you and your partner, it is most often:

forces you to look for a way out of the situation, find a compromise, make concessions;

encourages smoothing out contradictions and not emphasizing differences in positions;

activates the desire to prove that one is right.

If your partner wins an argument, you are more accustomed to:

congratulate him on his victory;

pretend that nothing special is happening;

“fight to the last bullet.”

In cases where relationships with a partner become conflicting, you have made it a rule:

“peace at any cost” - admit defeat, apologize, meet your partner’s wishes;

“pass to the side” - limit contacts, avoid a dispute;

“dot the i's” - clarify all the differences, and certainly find a way out of the situation.

When a conflict concerns your interests, you most often manage to win it:

thanks to diplomacy and flexibility of mind;

through endurance and patience;

due to temperament and emotions.

Key to the test

To determine the respondent’s inherent psychological defense strategy in communicating with partners, it is necessary to calculate the sum of responses of each type:

Option “a” - peacefulness,

Option “b” - avoidance,

Option “c” - aggression.

The more answers of one type or another, the more clearly expressed the corresponding strategy; if their number is approximately the same, it means that in contact with partners the subject actively uses different defenses of his subjective reality.

Interpretation of test results:

Peacefulness- a psychological strategy for protecting the subjective reality of the individual, in which intelligence and character play a leading role. Intelligence extinguishes or neutralizes the energy of emotions in cases where there is a threat to the self.

Peacefulness presupposes partnership And cooperation, the ability to compromise, make concessions and be pliable, the willingness to sacrifice some of their interests in the name of the main thing - maintaining dignity. In some cases, peacefulness means adaptation, the desire to yield to the pressure of a partner, not to aggravate relationships and not to get involved in conflicts, so as not to put one’s self to the test.

Intelligence alone, however, is often not enough for peacefulness to become the dominant defense strategy. It is also important to have a suitable character- soft, balanced, sociable. Intelligence combined with a “good” character creates a psychogenic prerequisite for peacefulness.

Of course, it also happens that a person with an unimportant character is also forced to show peacefulness. Most likely, he was “broken down by life”, and he made a wise conclusion: we must live in peace and harmony. In this case, his defense strategy is determined by experience and circumstances, that is, it sociogenic. In the end, it is not so important what motivates a person - nature or experience, or both together - the main result is whether peacefulness is the leading strategy of psychological defense or manifests itself only occasionally, along with other strategies.

It should not be assumed that peacefulness is an impeccable strategy for protecting the Self, suitable in all cases. Complete or sugary peacefulness is proof of spinelessness and lack of will, loss of self-esteem, which is precisely what psychological defense is designed to protect. The winner should not become a trophy. It is best when peacefulness dominates and is combined with other strategies (their soft forms).

Avoidance- a psychological strategy for protecting subjective reality, based on saving intellectual and emotional resources. The individual habitually bypasses or leaves areas of conflict and tension without a fight when his Self is under attack. At the same time, he does not openly waste the energy of emotions and minimally strains the intellect.

Avoidance wears psychogenic character, if it is due natural features individual. He has weak innate energy: poor, rigid emotions, mediocre intelligence, sluggish temperament.

Another option is possible: a person has from birth powerful intellect in order to avoid tense contacts, not to get involved with those who annoy his self. True, observations show that intelligence alone is not enough for the dominant strategy of avoidance. Smart people are often actively involved in protecting their subjective reality, and this is natural: the intellect is called upon to guard our needs, interests, values ​​and gains. Obviously, will is also needed.

Finally, such an option is also possible when a person forces himself to avoid sharp corners in communication and conflict situations, knows how to tell himself in time: “don’t appear with your Self.” To do this you need to have strong nervous system, will and, undoubtedly, life experience behind you, which at the right moment reminds you: “don’t pull the blanket over yourself,” “don’t spit against the wind,” “don’t sit on the wrong trolleybus,” “make a pass to the side.”

The strategy of peacefulness is built on the basis of a good intellect and an accommodating character - very high demands on the individual. Avoidance is supposedly simpler and does not require special mental and emotional costs, but it is also due to increased demands on the nervous system and will.

Aggression- a psychological strategy for protecting the subjective reality of the individual, acting on the basis of instinct. Instinct of aggression- one of the “big four” instincts common to all animals - hunger, sex, fear and aggression. This immediately explains the indisputable fact that aggression does not leave the repertoire of emotional reactions. It is enough to take a mental look at typical communication situations to see how common, easily reproducible and familiar it is in hard or soft forms. Its powerful energy protects the self of the individual on the street in a city crowd, in public transport, in line, at work, at home, in relationships with strangers and very close people, with friends and lovers.

Continuation
--PAGE_BREAK--

As the threat to the subjective reality of the individual increases, his aggression increases. Personality and the instinct of aggression, it turns out, are quite compatible, and the intellect plays the role of a “transfer link” - with its help, aggression is “pumped up”, “spinned to its fullest.” Intelligence works in transformer mode, increasing aggression due to the meaning attached to it.

Temperament test

Test instructions

answer “yes” or “no” to questions

Would you feel like an unhappy person if you were deprived of the opportunity to talk to people for a long time?

Is it easy for you to communicate with strangers?

Do you like to bring excitement to the company?

Do you like to be in a big company?

Do you behave freely in a large company?

Do you feel like chatting with people in your free time?

Do you feel the desire to be around people more?

Do you prefer solitude to a big company?

Are you silent, in no hurry to make contact in society? strangers?

Are you silent among your friends?

Do you keep yourself apart in company and at parties?

Do you like to be alone for a long time?

Are you always ready to immediately, without hesitation, join in a conversation that interests you?

Do you often speak without thinking when talking to people?

Do your thoughts often jump from one to another during a conversation?

Do you have conflicts with friends because you say something to them without thinking?

Can you ask another person a sensitive, difficult question without much hesitation?

Do you often speak without thinking properly?

Are you usually the first to start a conversation in a group?

Can you, without hesitation, make a request to a stranger?

Do you prefer to think, weigh your words before speaking?

How long do you mentally prepare to express your opinion?

Do you tend to think first and speak later?

Is it easy for you to refrain from speaking out loud an unexpected thought?

Are you a vulnerable person?

Do you often have trouble sleeping because you quarreled with your friends?

Do you feel anxious if you are misunderstood during a conversation?

Do your loved ones treat you badly?

do you get offended when people point out your shortcomings?

Do you experience anxiety and anxiety before any important, responsible conversation?

Are you offended by how others treat you?

Do you worry when sorting things out with friends?

do you need people to comfort you and support you?

Do your hands shake during a quarrel?

Are you easily offended?

Do you often feel insecure when communicating with people?

We determine the test result by key:

Energy in communicating with people:

YES in questions: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7

NO in questions: 8,9,10,11,12

Flexibility in communicating with people:

YES in questions: 13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20

NO in questions:21,22,23,24

Emotionality in communication:

YES in questions: 25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36

Results:

Up to 4 – low

4-5 – average

8-9 – high indicator

Sanguine - moderately developed indicators for all properties.

Choleric – high levels of energy, emotionality with average and high levels of plasticity.

Phlegmatic – low scores on all temperament traits.

Melancholic – low in energy, plasticity, high in emotionality.

In this regard, it is difficult to consider M.P.Z. isolated from other mental processes, it is difficult to classify them according to clear criteria. The mechanism of implementation and the reason for M.P.Z. cannot be considered separately from the difference in general and from the model of the psyche, since defense mechanisms are clearly tied to this model and are one of its necessary components.

Main types of M.P.Z.:

Suppression (repression);

Negation;

Compensation (overcompensation);

Regression (infantilization);

Reactive formations;

Projection;

Substitution;

Rationalization.

In the history of the study of M.P.Z. there are more than two dozen of them.

Defense mechanisms lie on the border of the conscious world and the unconscious and are a kind of filter between them. The role of this filter is varied - from protection against negative emotions, feelings, and unacceptable information associated with them, to the deeply pathological (formation of various types of neuroses and neurotic reactions).

M.P.Z. also participate in the processes of resistance to psychotherapeutic changes. One of their important functions is maintaining the homeostasis of the personality and psyche and protecting it from sudden changes. If M.P.Z. there would be no diversity of characters, personalities, accentuations, psychopathy, since a person could easily assimilate new information every time it comes to him and constantly change; Several such changes could occur in one day. It is clear that in such conditions it is impossible to form relationships between people - friendships, family, partnerships, with the exception, perhaps, of professional ones (and then only where professional skills are required without the participation of the individual, and there are very few such professions).

First of all, thanks to M.P.Z. we cannot change quickly for good or bad. If a person has changed dramatically, then he has either gone crazy (mental illness, but it will be obvious to a non-professional what happened), or the changes have been accumulating for a long time inside the personality model and at one fine moment they simply manifested themselves.

The mental system (our model of the world) protects itself from changes - not only from negative emotions, feelings and unpleasant information, but also from any other information that is unacceptable to a person’s belief system.

Example. Deeply religious or magical thinking will automatically resist the scientific approach, and vice versa - scientific thinking will resist deep religious or magical perception (however, there are always exceptions).

Therefore, it is possible to change only by changing the entire model of the world along with M.P.Z., which can be found in oneself, analyzed and redirected their influence in a favorable direction.

To do this, it is worth considering the main types of M.P.Z. separately.

1. Repression (suppression, repression). This type of defense transfers unacceptable information (for example, contrary to morality) from consciousness into the unconscious or suppresses negative feelings and emotions. Any information and any feelings (even those that have a positive effect on the psyche) can be suppressed if they do not coincide with the model of the world. At the same time, according to the law of conservation of energy, everything that is suppressed does not leave us anywhere, but is only transformed into other forms, triggering even more pathological processes. To a certain level, we can accumulate negative information or feelings, best case scenario we can completely dissolve a small amount of negativity in our unconscious (the buffer system simply dissipates this part of the repressed energy), but its possibilities are small, so it turns out that in most cases the accumulated negative information and/or feelings look for other outlets.

Since repression works like a valve, letting feelings and information pass only towards the unconscious and not giving them the opportunity to come back out, then it has nothing left to do except to change, to put it “up” (into the psyche) in the form of anxiety, anger, insomnia or “down” (into the body) in the form of psychosomatization and conversion syndromes. After negative feelings have accumulated to critical level, they will inevitably cause a feeling of tension in the unconscious (like tension in a computer that runs at full capacity without interruption). This tension, being nonspecific (as opposed to a causal suppressed feeling), will easily penetrate into any layers of the psyche, including consciousness. This is how the initial stage of many neuroses is formed.

The feeling of tension is recognized by us, and then, depending on our personality, will be transformed either into a feeling of general anxiety (which will be differentiated and specified over time), or into a feeling of general irritability, which will also be formed over time into specific irritability or anger at a person , group of people or event. Insomnia appears as a consequence of tension within the unconscious and is one of the most common symptoms of a neurotic lifestyle. Psychosomatics appears when most of the suppressed feelings have gone deeper into the nervous system, disrupting the functioning of the autonomic nervous system. Symptoms can be completely different - in general, this is a functional disorder of one or another body system: from thermoregulation and a lump in the throat to decreased immunity and, as a result, frequent colds. The most common psychosomatic disorders are tension in the skeletal muscles (lump in the throat, tension in the muscles of the neck, shoulder girdle, back as a result of exacerbation of osteochondrosis), hypertension or hypotension (fluctuations in blood pressure and pulse), dizziness, increased fatigue, general weakness, C .R.K., cardiac neurosis, etc. (for more details, see Formation of neurosis).

It is quite difficult to fight repression, but, be that as it may, the first stage of the fight should be the expression (even if nonspecific) of repressed feelings through analysis and introspection. On an intuitive level, we guess what? they suppressed it within themselves. Using special cleansing techniques and artificially intensifying your emotions, you need to force their manifestation for the fullest expression and emptying of the tense unconscious. In this case, it is desirable to go through several successive stages - from mild tension, anger and rage to tears, sobs, weakness, calmness (the most effective example is the dynamic meditation technique).

The basis of the fight against repression will be changing the habit of solving stressful situations with suppression. You need to learn to express emotions even in situations where it would seem that their expression is impossible (see Emotions. Feelings. Ways of expressing emotions).

The ability to recognize your emotions in a timely manner will greatly help you express them in a timely manner (the inability to recognize emotions is called alexithymia). Double standards, split personality (many subpersonalities that contradict each other), hedonism or moralizing (any extreme) will contribute to the habit of repressing and suppressing feelings and emotions.

2. Compensation (overcompensation). This defense mechanism manifests itself when underdevelopment in one area of ​​life is compensated by development in another area (or even several). In other words, when an emptiness in one area of ​​the psyche is filled with external (emptiness in the soul, excessive desire to communicate, including on social networks) or internal (fantasizing, going to a “bright” future, daydreaming, imagining what does not exist) factors in other areas. In certain amounts, compensation is an auxiliary mechanism for the development of skills, maintaining balance in the psyche through success in compensatory areas. For children and adolescents it acts as a developmental mechanism. However, if this mechanism is strongly expressed, then a pathological effect on life and psyche occurs.

If a person constantly compensates for an undeveloped sphere or dissatisfaction with something else, then he becomes dependent on this “other” (a compensatory person or a compensatory sphere of activity), and the development of other spheres completely stops. The result is one-sided, defective personality development with distortions in one area and a complete lack of abilities in another, vital environment. This leads to partial maladjustment when a person comes into contact with the causal sphere for compensation.

The mechanism of failure to compensate is also dangerous if the reason for compensation goes away. For example, if a person moves from one relationship immediately to another, thereby compensating for the old ones, then he will be in the new ones only as long as he has dissatisfaction, unresolvedness, and painful memories of the old ones. As soon as these emotions disappear, the desire to be in a new relationship immediately disappears, since they were exclusively compensatory in nature.

The same thing happens with compensatory behavior - it immediately disappears when the reason for the compensation disappears (for example, playing sports with low self-esteem: when self-esteem increases, the sport is abandoned, since it was purely compensatory in nature). Another common one example- This computer games when adults play them. As a rule, this is of a compensatory nature - dissatisfaction in life (material, status, career, power) is compensated by easy and quick victories in military strategies, economic simulators and other games.

Compensating spheres or people become objects of dependence; artificial relationships are formed with them rather than sincere ones. In such relationships, neuroses easily arise.

Alcoholism and drug addiction are often based on compensation - dissatisfaction in life is compensated by pleasure and a change in reality in the other direction. When taking these psychoactive substances, the emergence of psychological dependence is obvious, which over time increases in biological dependence on the drug (however, not only compensation underlies addictions).

The desire for power and money is also often based on compensation. Having low self-esteem, a person, as a rule, strives to increase it by accumulating the values ​​of society - money, power, status. The compensation mechanism works as long as the compensatory sphere is developed, and success can be achieved in it. In the opposite case, a double breakdown occurs: firstly, the absence of a compensatory area or a compensatory person, and secondly, a return to the initial dissatisfaction and complete underdevelopment of that area (self-esteem), in relation to which many years of compensation were sometimes built. What a person compensates for is an underdeveloped area in the psyche, body, low self-esteem- does not develop in any way during the compensation process, which turns this psychological defense mechanism into a time bomb.

Solution for pathological compensation. First, you need to analyze whether it is present in life at all, and if so, then understand its main causes (inner emptiness, dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, underdevelopment in some area) and what compensation occurs due to (area, person). All efforts should be directed not at stopping compensation, otherwise this will cause a lot of stress or simply a change in the compensatory area, but at the reason for which this pathological mechanism turned on. This reason (undeveloped area), no matter how much you want the opposite, you should try to develop it as much as possible. If it is impossible to develop the problem area, it is necessary to accept reality as it is, without developing dissatisfaction, because this feeling has no place in the natural state of affairs. It is necessary to completely close previous pathological stressful relationships and work on properly increasing self-esteem, without compensating for its lack by endless pursuit of money, power, status, etc.

3. Rationalization. This mechanism is an attempt to control negative or unacceptable information through distortion in order to protect a fact or human behavior. In other words, when a person rationalizes, he, using the plasticity of logic (see Plasticity of Logic), adjusts an event or the behavior of another person to his model of the world, while rationally distorting many facts of this event. As an example- justifying one's own or someone else's immoral behavior.

It may seem that rationalization concerns only the cognitive (mental, ideological) link, but this is not true, since any information that poses a danger to us is loaded with emotionally negative emotions, and therefore we begin to defend ourselves from it. After information and emotions have been adjusted to their model of perception, they are no longer dangerous, and this fact is perceived as true - that is, the person himself does not see any distortions. Example: reasoning about war can lead to the conclusion that it is useful for society, since it ensures the supply of new resources, economic renewal, etc.

4. Intellectualization. This is an attempt to control negative emotions through the use of a rational element, so that these emotions can be explained not through their true cause (since it does not suit the person, as well as themselves negative emotions), and through other reasons and facts - incorrect, but acceptable. The emotion itself is misinterpreted as a result of a violent thought process, which automatically makes its expression impossible. This leads to a dissociation of the thought process aimed at emotion and the sensory flow itself, initially associated with the fact. Simply put, we process a negative, unacceptable fact in such a way that we ultimately deprive it of its emotional component, which is simply suppressed (dissociating from the thought process itself).

Example: the person who stole for the first time immediately experienced unpleasant feelings of guilt about this, but in the process of intellectualization he completely justifies himself (“many people do this, even my boss, so why am I worse?”, “there is nothing wrong with this, since this good for me and my family” and similar misconceptions).

Great damage to the psyche occurs due to the suppressed emotion of guilt, which, one way or another, will now perform its function of self-punishment in the unconscious (see Guilt. Pathology).

5. Denial. Any unacceptable and painful fact can be completely denied by our perception as non-existent. Of course, deep down, in the unconscious, we understand that this either has already happened, is happening now, or will happen in the future. That is, in addition to perception, the participation of various layers of our psyche is necessary here, in particular, the mind, which can easily deny the presence of any real fact or assert the existence of an unreal fact or event. However, complete denial cannot occur due to the fact that, when faced with extremely unacceptable information, we immediately pass it through ourselves, where it leaves its mark. In this sense, denial is similar to rationalization (logical denial of the existence of a fact) and suppression (repressing extremely negative feelings into the unconscious) - these two processes occur simultaneously.

The brightest example denial is a person’s reaction to a significant stressful event in life - the death of a loved one, betrayal or betrayal, etc. First of all, many people react to this by denying the fact of this negative event (“no, this cannot be!”, “I don’t believe that this could happen”). Next, either the normal process of experiencing a stressful event is activated, or denial is consolidated in the psyche, which invariably leads to negative consequences. The consequences are expressed in the fact that a person cannot adequately react to a sad event, for example, does not come to a funeral or lives as if the deceased person is next to him or has left for a while; continues to build relationships with a traitor, a cheater, without making any attempts to solve the problem. In addition, there is a deep suppression of sad feelings of loss, which most often turn into psychosomatic symptoms and cause disorder various systems of the body (jumps in blood pressure and heart rate, blood flow rate, drop in immunity, hormonal disorders, etc.).

Solution. In a normal state, denial works to limit the flow of information that enters our psyche in abundance. Denial also helps to partially mitigate the extremely unpleasant stressful fact at the very beginning of contact with it. However, then it must switch to other forms of natural reactions, to stress. Since the mechanism is unconscious, it is impossible to “catch” it while it is working. Therefore, it is worth analyzing past stressful events for manifestations of defense through denial and the consequences of it. If you find it there, it is most likely working in the present tense, so you need to do a speculative analysis and understand where the denial may be showing up now. To do this, you should identify all the stress factors present in your life at the moment, as well as over the past 3 years. Then analyze which reactions in feelings, thoughts or behavior followed the stress immediately, and which were delayed. This will reveal not only denial, but also all other psychological defense mechanisms.

To work specifically with denial, you need to turn to a fact that was repressed and which was unacceptable and therefore excluded as causing suffering. You need to accept this fact, live it (perhaps through sadness, grief, melancholy, anger, hatred, contempt and other emotions that will eventually go away through their expression), and then try to adapt to it from the position of the norm, without including, if possible, other ways to protect against it or by including them intentionally in controlled doses (so they will be safe).

6. Regression. This method involves not only descending to a lower level in personality development, where a “complex” problem does not (did not exist), but also transferring it into the past, as if it had already exhausted itself. But in fact, it either continues to exist now, or has recently really resolved itself, but this only means that after a while it will repeat again (for example, pathological cyclical relationships, a pathological cyclical scenario in life, addictions), or it has ended, but thanks to regression, there was no adequate response to the stressful event, and negative experiences were only partially suppressed.

Regression is interesting because it affects the entire personality as a whole. A person must, as it were, degrade, become more primitive, more ignorant, more immoral than he actually was. This is often accompanied by infantilization of the individual (return to childhood, teenage behavior), primitivization of behavior, regression creativity and moral and ethical values. This method contains part denial, part suppression and avoidance. With this defense, a person tries to solve all subsequent problems in the easiest way.

7. Substitution (displacement). Here there is a redirection of an inexpressible feeling or opinion from the object for which they are intended (friend, boss, relative) to any other object (living or non-living, the main thing is safe for expression) in order to reduce tension through the expression of a specific emotion or feeling, negative opinion .

The most common example: when a person receives a dose of negativity at work from a manager (colleagues, clients), but cannot express it for fear of losing his job or his status, he brings this negativity home and begins to “chase” his household, breaks doors, dishes, etc. . To some extent, this reduces tension, but not completely, since a complete release of emotion is possible only in relation to the object that caused it.

In small quantities, this protection helps to distribute and redirect feelings in a safe direction, thereby helping the person. But if the substitution is strongly expressed, then it will cause problems. The reasons for them may be different: inadequate expression of feelings to the substitute object (when part of the energy has to be suppressed), the reverse negative reaction of the substitutes to a person who “unloads” on them a negative they do not understand; formation of double standards; inauthentic existence (impossibility of full self-expression), which in no way solves the problem with the object that causes the initial negative experiences.

Usually the replacement is traced from one external object to another external one, but there are other options. For example, auto-aggression is the displacement of anger from an external object to oneself. The displacement from an internal object to an external one is called projection.

8. Projection. This is a defense mechanism in which we impose our negative experiences and thoughts on another person (other people or even entire events in life) in order to justify and protect ourselves and our attitude towards him (them). Simply put, this happens when we judge others by ourselves, once again making sure that we are right. By projecting onto others what is happening in us (usually negative feelings and thoughts), we mistakenly attribute it to other people (events), protecting ourselves from our own negativity. In small quantities, projection helps to transfer negativity from oneself to others, but in most cases, projection performs a negative function in a person’s life. Double standards, lack of self-reflection (criticism of one's behavior), low level of awareness, transfer of responsibility to other people - all this provokes us to create even more projections that strengthen these negative processes. It turns out to be a vicious circle that prevents the solution of real problems that lie in our inner world.

With chronic projection, we will blame our loved ones or other people for their failure, anger, behavior unworthy of us, and we will constantly suspect them of betrayal. The negative consequence of such protection is the desire to correct an external object onto which something negative is projected, or in general get rid of from him, in order to thus end the feelings he caused.

Projection is one of the main qualities of suspicious people, paranoid individuals and hysterics. Not trusting themselves due to low self-esteem and lack of self-respect, they (we) shift distrust as a personality quality onto other people and conclude that other people are unreliable and can betray, set up, change at any moment (one of the mechanisms that forms pathological jealousy ).

Projection as protection is part of the global mechanism of perception of the surrounding world.

Solution. It is necessary to reduce projection as a defense, starting with the development of the skill of sensory self-reflection. The ability to recognize our emotions and feelings will automatically protect us from expressed projection. With its help, we will understand where our feelings and thoughts are, and where others are. This will make it possible to express them correctly, without harm to yourself and others. A pronounced projection of anger and mistrust destroys any relationship, since people whom we, in our projection, constantly suspect of something that they did not do and accuse of something that they did not even think about, simply will not understand us and will ultimately be disappointed in us.

9. Introjection (identification, identification). This is the reverse process of projection, when we attribute to ourselves other people’s feelings, emotions, thoughts, behavior, scenarios, perception algorithms. Just like projection, introjection is not so much a defense mechanism as a necessary process of interaction with reality. In childhood and adolescence, it is a necessary learning mechanism, when the child copies the behavior of adults, adopting the necessary adaptive methods of perception and behavior in reality.

Introjection with heroes, superheroes, strong personalities- on the one hand, it helps to develop strong qualities, on the other, it deprives us of our individuality and gives us false ideas about omnipotence, which inevitably leads to the emergence of dangerous situations that we cannot cope with, greatly overestimating our capabilities.

Pathological influence. Introjection dissolves us in society. Identifying with the characters of films or books not only suppresses our individuality, but also takes us to an alien and unreal world of illusions and hopes, where everything comes true, where people do not die, where there are ideal relationships, ideal people, ideal events. When we return to reality with such global identification, we unconsciously try to behave accordingly (but we fail, because superheroes, etc. fictional characters), we demand from reality and other people an ideal attitude towards ourselves, we expect that our introjected hopes will come true, and thereby we throw ourselves even further away from real achievements of real results. All this as a whole creates a deep feeling of dissatisfaction, and ultimately disappointment. When everyone does this, the level of dissatisfaction spreads like an infection to a large part of society, turning it (dissatisfaction) into a normal state of affairs.

When identification with an ideal object occurs consciously, the connection of the introject with it is maintained all the time. The trap is that if the role model disappears or changes (for example, it ceases to be a hero), automatically the entire system of introjection in us collapses. This can lead to grief, depression, and a severe decrease in self-esteem, which is mostly based on identification with our hero.

Solution.

a) Analyze the presence and severity of the work of pathological introjection in life.

b) Learn to share your inner world(emotions, feelings, behavior) and the world of other people (their feelings and behavior).

c) Understand that the introject will never be completely built into our psyche, it will be an external object within us, that is, a new subpersonality will be formed, which will once again split us into parts.

d) Accept the idea that each person has his own development path - unique and individual; We need examples from others only for our own learning, and not for copying into ours. own life their personalities, character traits, behavior patterns and expectations.

e) Remember that identification with the ideal will certainly bring dissatisfaction and disappointment into life, and will dissolve in the crowd of similar imitators.

f) Combat the blurring of one’s own boundaries by strengthening one’s “I”, increasing self-esteem, accumulating knowledge about oneself and forming consistent behavior and worldview.

10. Reactive formations. This defense mechanism is characterized by the suppression of one feeling (emotion, experience), which is unacceptable or prohibited for expression (by society, by the person himself), by another feeling that is directly opposite in meaning (emotion, experience), which is much more pronounced than the first feeling.

The complexity of life often leads to a dual (ambivalent) perception of other people, events, and oneself. But such inconsistency is not perceived by our consciousness either in feelings or in information; we immediately try to get rid of it by any means. One of these methods is reactive formations, which intensify one feeling to the extent that it begins to displace its opposite.

For example, when there are two contradictory feelings - hostility on the one hand and love on the other - then reactive formations can work in either direction. Both in the direction of hostility, intensifying it to hatred and expressed disgust (which makes it easy to suppress love for a person and dependence on him), and in the direction of love, which will take on the nature of obsession, super-dependence (sexualization, idealization, moralization of this person), while completely suppressing hostility and contempt. However, this mechanism does not solve the problem, since the opposite pole periodically makes itself felt (manifests itself in words or in behavior directly opposite to the main one), since it has not disappeared anywhere, but has only passed into the unconscious.

Protection can work for a lifetime, but its severity may decrease over time. Protection also works in the case of symbiosis or habit with another person. In order to leave it or try to leave it, people unconsciously develop exactly the opposite negative feelings towards the second participant in the symbiosis (as a rule, these are parents). In a teenager, this can manifest itself in a sharp change in attitude towards the parents whom he recently loved, a transition to opposition to them occurs, hostility and disrespect are manifested - all for the sake of the desire to highlight his “I”, to become more mature and independent, to get out of a symbiotic relationship ( such a situation can be considered as a variant of the norm).

Protection with the help of reactive formations can be activated not only when we have two ambivalent (contradictory) feelings towards a person or event, but also in the case of having one feeling, the manifestation of which, however, is extremely undesirable, condemned by society, our own morality or any other prohibitions. Automatically, this feeling can switch to the opposite, which is acceptable for society and one’s own morality, and is not blocked by other prohibitions.

Examples. Homophobia in men who are subconsciously prone to homosexual desires (there are exceptions here). Stockholm syndrome, in which hatred and fear among hostages towards their captors is replaced by understanding, acceptance and even love for them (a fairly rare occurrence). The saying “from love to hate is one step” describes exactly how this defense works. Often this defense manifests itself in pathological relationships, where there is enmity, a lot of conflicts and contradictions between spouses or partners, but reactive formations, suppressing negativity, turn these relationships into passionate, dependent, saturated with love, even to the point of obsession with each other. As soon as one of the participants loses the initial suppressed feeling (anger, contempt, which has not switched in the opposite direction), the relationship immediately collapses, since love and dependence go away overnight. This happens rarely, because such relationships are usually of a sadomasochistic nature (in the psychological, not in the sexual sense of the word), and they, as you know, are the strongest relationships on earth, despite their complete pathology, since each gives the other something what he needs.

Solution.

a) As usual, the first thing you need to do is to analyze, based on the information received above, your life for the presence of this type of protection in it.

b) You need to start working not with the expressed feeling that is currently manifesting itself, but with the initial one, the opposite of it, which is suppressed.

c) You need to work through the suppressed feeling carefully, otherwise it can simply turn the defense in the opposite direction, change the pole (love will turn into hatred, but the dependence will remain, i.e. you will have to hate all your life in order to keep your love).

d) If you have two feelings, you must either consciously choose one, refusing to suppress the other, or create a compromise option.

This is the list of the main types of M.P.Z. is over, however, there are other types of defenses, which are only individual cases of the work of the above, but which are worth knowing about for more effective work on neurosis.

Dissociation- this is a group of various defense mechanisms, as a result of which some part of the information, sensory or cognitive, which is unwanted, negative and contains stress factors (perception of reality and oneself in it, time, memory for some events).

In other words, dissociation is the disintegrated work of various mental functions, which seem to split (dissociate) from our “I”.

Examples: separate work of thinking and feelings during intellectualization; active forgetting of some negative events; the feeling that the events of my life in the present (past) are not happening to me.

Dissociation is characterized by a change in the feeling of life; it becomes an alien, different world. Change in self-perception - a person sees himself “as a stranger”, characterizes himself as “not himself”, impaired identification with himself, with the world around him or with certain events. It is also worth noting that the above conditions can not only occur due to dissociation.

Humility. If it is expressed strongly, it represents self-abasement and slavish obedience. A person becomes a complete conformist, and at the same time he receives many encouragements from society, since humble people are beneficial for others - they are obedient, submissive, do not contradict, agree on everything, are easily controlled, etc. In return for his behavior, a humble person receives respect, praise, and positive evaluation. At the same time, a person suppresses his “I”, adjusts, and avoids conflict with society.

Moralization- this is the attribution of moral qualities (which in reality do not exist) to a person significant to us in order to justify him in our eyes. Moreover, such a person most often does not adhere to the high moral principles that we attribute to him. We do this to avoid or suppress the feelings of contempt, disgust or anger we experience towards him.

Turning against oneself or self-aggression. This method involves shifting the direction of aggression from the object to which it is intended (the culprit, the cause of anger) to oneself, since the original object is either unavailable for expressing anger, or expressing negativity towards it is prohibited moral principles(for example, if this close person: girlfriend, friend, spouse, etc.). Substitution in such situations usually shifts from external objects to oneself. Despite the destructive nature of the defense (physical and mental self-punishment, self-humiliation), it becomes easier for the person in comparison with the initial stressful situation that caused this defensive reaction. May refer to mechanisms such as reaction formations and displacement.

Sexualization. This defense mechanism is similar to moralization, only with the goal of protecting the object from one’s own negative feelings (contempt, disgust, anger) and thoughts. The object is given a special sexual meaning, up to a strong increase in sexual desire for it. This is often observed after cheating spouses (partners) about which they know. Refers to the mechanism of reactive formations.

Sublimation. This is a group of different mechanisms, the common feature of which is the redistribution of energy from pathological desires and needs to normal ones - socially acceptable and adaptive. Also, energy can be redistributed from forbidden bis using sublimation

Psychological defense mechanisms Etymology.

Comes from the Greek. psyche - soul, logos - teaching.

A system of mechanisms aimed at minimizing negative experiences associated with conflicts that threaten the integrity of the individual.

Such conflicts can be provoked both by contradictory attitudes in the individual himself, and by a mismatch between external information and the individual’s image of the world and the image of J. Z. Freud, who was the first to tackle the problem psychological conflicts, interpreted them as a form of resolving the conflict between unconscious drives and internalized social requirements or prohibitions. Through the implementation of psychological mechanisms, as a rule, only relative personal well-being is achieved. But unresolved problems become chronic, as a person deprives himself of the opportunity to actively influence the situation in order to eliminate the source of negative experiences. Psychological defense has the most positive role when the problems that arise are of little significance and are not worth dealing with at all.

As a result of numerous studies conducted primarily in clinical practice, various types of psychological defense mechanisms have been identified:

Repression is the elimination of desires from consciousness;

Identification - increasing one’s own significance through unity with persons or social institutions of high social rank;

Isolation - separation of an emotional reaction from a situation of fear;

Introjection is the integration of external assessments and standards that may pose a threat into the structure of one’s own self;

Compensation - making up for weakness by overemphasizing a desirable character trait;

Formation of reactions - elimination of desire from consciousness when intensified external behavior, corresponding to this desire;

Denial is a defense against unpleasant reality due to the unwillingness to perceive it;

Transference is the redirection of hostile feelings to an object that is less dangerous than the true cause of these emotions;

Projection - redirecting one's own negative qualities or unacceptable desires to others;

Rationalization is an attempt to find a logical basis for one’s own behavior;

Regression - a decrease in the level of aspirations and the degree of organization of activities;

Fantasy - the realization of a frustrated desire in the imagination;

Emotional isolation - avoiding traumatic experiences by withdrawing into passivity.

Psychological Dictionary. THEM. Kondakov. 2000.

See what “psychological defense mechanisms” are in other dictionaries:

MECHANISMS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DEFENSE- (from the Greek psyche - soul logos - teaching) - a system of mechanisms aimed at minimizing negative experiences associated with conflicts that threaten the integrity of the individual. Such conflicts can be provoked as...

In UP, the concept of mechanisms of psychological defense of the individual is used quite rarely. However, it significantly expands the formal boundaries of the study of the psychology of the personality of the victim or offender. Knowledge of specific psychological... ...

A phenomenon and concept widely used in modern psychoanalytic theory and practice. This is the defense (struggle) of the “I”, the self-awareness of the individual with anxieties and unbearable, painful experiences, thoughts, desires, drives used for... ... Encyclopedia of modern legal psychology

- (Freud S., 1894) The concept of personal defense mechanisms that allow one to overcome mental trauma. According to S. Freud, defense mechanisms unconsciously suppress and displace from consciousness information that does not meet moral requirements... ... Explanatory dictionary of psychiatric terms

Freud's mechanisms of psychological defense- (Freud, 1894) – hypothetical unconscious psychological processes that prevent the appearance in consciousness of threatening impulses of the It (Id), removing them from consciousness or transforming them in such a way that they appear acceptable to... ... encyclopedic Dictionary in psychology and pedagogy

MECHANISMS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DEFENSE- in modern psychology are interpreted as ways for a person to maintain his mental balance. They manifest themselves, in particular, as a person’s tendency to maintain a familiar opinion about himself, rejecting or distorting unfavorable information that destroys... Eurasian wisdom from A to Z. Explanatory dictionary

defense mechanisms- German: Abwehimechanismen. French: mechanismes de defense. English: mechanisms of defense. Spanish: mécanismes de defensa. Italian: meccanismi di difesa. Portuguese: mecanismos de defesa. Various types of operations characteristic of psychological protection... ... Dictionary of Psychoanalysis

COPING MECHANISMS (COPING MECHANISMS)- (from the English coping). The study of human behavior in stressful situations has led to the identification of coping mechanisms, or coping mechanisms, that determine successful or unsuccessful adaptation. For the first time the term “coping” was... ... Psychotherapeutic Encyclopedia

PROTECTION MECHANISMS- the concept of psychoanalysis, meaning methods of mental. protecting the conscious “I” (Ego) from dangerous drives and impulses that conflict with social norms and attitudes. The most universal of 3. m. is displacement. By 3.00... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

Appointed in cases where a comprehensive assessment of the offender’s testimony, given by him at different times and containing contradictory information, is required. One of the significant reasons for the distortion of memories of a crime committed is... ... Encyclopedia of modern legal psychology

Books

• Psychological impact. Mechanisms, strategies, countermeasures, . The book presents various approaches to the topic of psychological influence: socio-psychological, psycholinguistic, engineering-psychological, etc., attempts are made to…