Defense Mechanisms

Analytical Essay # 102443

Psychology > Freud

Defense Mechanisms

An analysis of the Freudian theory concerning defense mechanisms.

1,463 words () | 2 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper describes and critically evaluates the evidence for psychological defense mechanisms by examining Freudian theory in works such as "Civilization and its Discontents" and responsive works such as "Individual Differences" by Colin Cooper. The paper debates the issue of whether the evidence Freud provided on defense mechanisms is controversial, as are his theories about the id, ego, and superego. The paper contends that one's belief in the existence of defense mechanisms is dependent to a significant extent upon one's belief in Freud's theory of the mind as a whole, and upon one's view of the impact individual differences may have on human psychology.

From the Paper:

"Freud (1989) theorized that through projection, when a person's unacceptable, forbidden urges intensify and break into consciousness, they are attributed to others. Likewise, unconscious rationalization eliminates anxiety or guilt by formulating perfectly reasonable reasons for the unacceptable behavior; displacement occurs when a natural urge cannot be vented and is then repressed and often displaced to another, disguised means of venting; and reaction formation occurs in order to fend off an anxiety-inducing and unacceptable impulse by replacing it with its over-emphasized, diametrically opposite impulse. "

Sample of Sources Used:

Cooper, Colin. (2002). Individual Differences. London: A Hodder Armold Publication.
Freud, Sigmund. (1989). Civilization and its Discontents. New York: W.W. Norton.