Defense Mechanisms (Kinn's Chapter 5)

Front 1

verbal aggression

Back 1

when a person verbally attacks another without addressing the original complaint or disregards it
Example: "Who are you to ask me that? You haven't finished your duties today, either!"

Front 2

sarcasm

Back 2

the biting edge added to words that a person states with the intent to cause paoin or anger
Example: "Of course it's a nice dress, if you like tents."

Front 3

rationalization

Back 3

when people rationalize their behavior, they are offering excuses for what has been done or said and trying to convince others that the behavior was completely justified
Example: "he only hits me because he is stressed at work."

Front 4

compensation

Back 4

psychological mechanism through which feelings of inferiority, frustration, or failure in one area are counterbalanced by achievement in another
Example: "I know I gained 5 pound, Dr. George, but I exercised three times last week."

Front 5

regression

Back 5

reversion to an earlier mental or behavioral level. Some people regress to a childlike state or period or exhibit qualities inherent to an earlier time in life
Example: "I'd like to get better grades, but I can't find time to study."

Front 6

apathy

Back 6

lack of felling, emotion, interest, or concern
Example: I' don't care what grade I got on the test, because I am not going to pass the class anyway."

Front 7

displacement

Back 7

redirection of an emotion or impulse from its original object, such as an idea or person, to another object
Example: "I have enough problems at work; I don't need to come home to a nagging wife!"

Front 8

denial

Back 8

psychological defense mechanism in which a person avoids confronting a personal problem or reality by denying the existence of the problem or reality
Example: "My husband can't have cancer. He is completely healthy."

Front 9

physical avoidance

Back 9

completely avoiding any representaton of a painful event.
Example: "I will never go to that restaurant again, because that's where my ex-husband told me he wanted a divorce."

Front 10

projection

Back 10

a defense mechanism that is the attribution of one's own ideas, feelings, or attitudes to other people or to objects.
Example: Everyone else is always late, so why am I getting reprimanded for it?"