TEXT 3.

EGO DEFENSE MECHANISMS

Defense mechanisms are a part of our everyday life. Even if you're not
a Freudian by philosophy or training, you have to admit that everyone engages in some form
of self-deception at least some of the time.

It was a Freud, but not Sigmund, who defined the defense mechanisms. Anna Freud defined in
detail the defense mechanisms sketched out by her father in her book, "The Ego and the
Mechanisms of Defense." Defense mechanisms are not just an unconscious protective measure
to prevent you from connecting with your urges and desires. They also protect you from the
anxiety of confronting your weaknesses.

Sigmund Freud’s theory was that our personality consists of three elements: the id, the ego and
the superego. According to Freud, the ego's job was to satisfy the id's impulses, not offend the
moralistic character of the superego, while still taking into consideration the reality of the
situation. We don't want either one to get too strong so we talk to both of them, hear their
perspective and then make a decision. This decision is the ego talking, the one looking for that
healthy balance.

Freud believed we only have two drives; sex and aggression. In other words, everything we do
is motivated by one of these two drives. Sex, also called Eros or the Life force, represents our
drive to live, prosper, and produce offspring. Aggression, also called Thanatos or our Death
force, represents our need to stay alive and stave off threats to our existence, our power, and
our prosperity.

The ego has a difficult time satisfying both the id and the superego, but it doesn't have to do so
without help. The ego has some tools it can use in its job as the mediator, tools that help defend
the ego. When the ego has a difficult time making both the id and the superego happy, it will
employ one or more of these defenses:

DEFENSE DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE

denial arguing against an denying that your physician's

anxiety provoking diagnosis of cancer is correct and
stimuli by stating it seeking a second opinion
doesn't exist

displacement taking out impulses slamming a door instead of hitting

on a less threatening as person, yelling at your spouse
target after an argument with your boss
 intellectualization avoiding focusing on the details of a funeral
unacceptable as opposed to the sadness and grief
emotions by focusing
on the intellectual
aspects

projection placing unacceptable when losing an argument, you state

impulses in yourself "You're just stupid;"
onto someone else

rationalization supplying a logical or stating that you were fired because

rational reason as you didn't suck up to the boss, when
opposed to the real the real reason was your poor
reason performance

reaction taking the opposite having a bias against a particular

formation belief because the race or culture and then embracing
true belief causes that race or culture to the extreme
anxiety

regression returning to a sitting in a corner and crying after

previous stage of hearing bad news; throwing a
development temper tantrum when you don't
get your way

repression pulling into the forgetting sexual abuse from your

unconscious childhood due to the trauma and
anxiety

sublimation acting out sublimating your aggressive

unacceptable impulses toward a career as a boxer;
impulses in a socially becoming a surgeon because of
acceptable way your desire to cut; lifting weights to
release 'pent up' energy

Ego defenses are not necessarily unhealthy as you can see by the examples above. In fact, the
lack of these defenses, or the inability to use them effectively can often lead to problems in
life. However, we sometimes employ the defenses at the wrong time or overuse them, which
can be equally destructive.

Adapted from: http://allpsych.com/psychology101/defenses.html

I List the words from which the names of defense mechanisms were formed. What are
their equivalents in Serbian?

DENIAL

DISPLACEMENT

INTELLECTUALIZATION

PROJECTION

RATIONALIZATION

REACTION FORMATION

REGRESSION

REPRESSION

SUBLIMATION

II Match the words to their synonyms.

1. stave off a) a fit of rage

2. offspring b) wife or husband

3. mediator c) a manner or quality of work, accomplishment

4. spouse d) keep off, repel

5. performance e) an irrational inclination or prejudice

6. bias f) children

7. temper tantrum g) intermediary, the one who mediates

III Can you recognize the defense mechanisms used in these situations? Provide more
examples for other defense mechanisms.

1. An alcoholic claims he can quit drinking whenever he wants to.

2. A person refuses to pay taxes to the state, saying that the state would use the money to buy
guns.

3. A married woman develops feelings for her husband’s friend but behaves rudely towards
him.