Defense mechanisms are natural psychological reflexes to stresses and conflict. These reflexes are important as they allow an individual to temporarily resolve conflict and alleviate stress. In case these reflexes do not happen, it can result in internal conflicts which could cause great harm. The key to psychological health and wellbeing is for an individual to recognize the reflexive responses as defense mechanism and then manage the reflexes adequately. The study of defense mechanism also raises questions about their development trajectories, their continuity, discontinuity, and whether they become less or more adaptive with age. Proper development of defense mechanisms at an early age can result in significant benefits as one grows older. Defense mechanism can be a great tool in handling stress through recognition and proper management if the tools are developed at an early age.
Defense mechanisms can be described as unconscious emotional experiences that are not consciously accessible. The aim of defense mechanisms is to limit the conscious experiences of negative emotions. Von Hippel and Trivers (2011) note that defensive self-deception which involves biased memory and attention is usually unconscious because its awareness will decrease its effectiveness. For instance, deliberate and conscious attempts to suppress unwanted thoughts often results in a more conscious appearance. Unconscious and automatic repression of thoughts are usually more efficient (Geraerts et al., 2012). The unconscious nature of defense mechanisms makes them difficult to control. Individuals that grow up without consciously understanding the defense mechanisms can have undue stress.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The understanding of defense mechanisms makes them conscious and means that people are likely to use them less. Sala et al., (2015) found that the understanding of defense mechanisms among children increases between the age of 7 and 11 years. The study found that children that understood the defense mechanisms were resultantly less likely to use the defense mechanisms. The view is supported by the fact children rely on cognitively simple and primitive defense mechanisms during their early childhood and infancy stages. However, as they progress and grow, they move to more complex defenses such as projection and identification (Cramer, 2015). This is because one’s conscious abilities develop and grow from middle childhood and beyond. Adults that do not develop their self-awareness, cognitive abilities, and conscious abilities will continually use primitive defense mechanisms. This should alter their development, growth, and maturity where they could be able to successfully use more advanced defense mechanisms.
Vaillant’s Classification of Defense Mechanisms
Vaillant categorized defenses based on developmental maturity and mental complexity. Various empirical studies have confirmed the existence of the two or three defense mechanism dimensions among adults, children, and adolescents (Petraglia et al., 2017). The types of defense mechanisms were categorized by Vaillant (1992) as mature, immature, and intermediate defense mechanisms. The first category, mature defense mechanisms, describes those mechanisms that are generally considered healthy ways to handle stress and conflict. They are identified as the ‘mature’ mechanism due to the fact that these mechanisms are often developed later in life. These defenses are usually perceived to be more deliberate and conscious. When neglected, mature defenses have been found to cause minor cognitive distortions.
Immature defense mechanisms are the second type of defense mechanism identified in the Vaillant framework. It is made up of some of the simpler mechanisms that naturally develop in children to allow them to handle the psychological stresses and conflicts of childhood. However, immature defenses can often fail to fully resolve conflicts. Immature defense mechanisms produce severe cognition distortions about the self and that of others. For instance, one can project unacceptable emotions and the self could be perceived as superior compared to other individuals. Those that rely on immature defense mechanism to solve chronic subconscious conflicts can affect their choices and quality of life in a negative way.
Intermediate defense mechanisms make up the final classification in the Vaillant framework. This mechanism falls into a grey area in the common differentiation between healthy and unhealthy defense mechanisms. Intermediate defense mechanisms can alter subjective experiences by dissociating one’s cognitive mental and emotional contents. Intermediate defense mechanisms are those such as repression that are thought to help children or young adults. This group may not have developed their mature defense mechanisms to cope with stresses which cannot be handled with immature defense mechanisms.
The hierarchy of defense mechanisms proposed by the Vaillant framework demonstrates that certain defense mechanisms develop naturally at a young age. Some examples of naturally developing defense mechanisms that develop in childhood include response to stress and conflict. These naturally developing defense mechanisms help an individual by protecting one’s psychological health as one grows up. However, as one matures, it is necessary to develop a new set of tools to handle stress and conflict among adult and young adult lives (Valliant, 1992). An example of the transition would be that of an impulse and knee-jerk natural defense mechanism. As one grows into the latter stages of life, one should have recognized and managed defense mechanisms that are critical to successful conflict resolution and stress mitigation.
Parental Guidance in Defense Mechanisms as an Adult
The recognition and management of defense mechanisms follow that of the parents. Defense mechanisms have been identified among children where they were found to copy the defense mechanisms of their mothers. Bogdanova, Rusyaeva, and Vyelgzhanina, (2016) investigated gender and age aspects of a child’s psychological defenses in the child-mother relationship. The study found that initially, children directly copy defense mechanisms that have been observed from the behavior of their mothers. As the children grow older, they make use of the defenses which the learned consciously.
The maturity of defense mechanisms for a child develops better in cases where mothers have already developed maturity in the defense mechanisms. Empirical data from Bogdanova et al., (2016) found a maturity between a child’s psychological defense mechanisms and that of maternal psychological defense mechanisms. The study revealed that a child that develops maternal defense mechanisms at a young and early age would have the best chance of developing their defense mechanisms to maturity. Children that learn mature defense mechanisms from the mothers will be able to develop advanced and mature defense mechanisms at the later stages of their lives.
Poor Management Defense Mechanisms
Poor management of defense mechanisms can lead to several problems for both the child and the adult. One example of poor management of defense mechanism can be seen where self-deceptive defense mechanisms occur. According to the integrative defense theory by Hart (2014), self-deceptive defense mechanisms occur where an individual becomes extremely shy and choose to withdraw from any form of social participation. The study noted that the reliance on the self-deceptive defense mechanism becomes more pronounced among girls aged between 9 and 11 years old. The rejections were characterized by experiences of vulnerability, the lack of the ability to cope with threats, and a lack of confidence. Additionally, immature and neurotic defenses can be associated with other negative childhood experiences such as harsh parenting, beliefs of abandonment, displaying unacceptable emotions, and attachment insecurity.
Defense mechanisms can lead to unhealthy or healthy consequences depending on the frequency and the circumstances which they occur. According to the psychoanalytic theory, defense mechanisms can be described as psychological strategies that have been put to the attention of the conscious mind by the unconscious mind (Jarrett & Vince, 2017). The aim of defense mechanisms is for the unconscious mind to distort one’s reality so as to defend against certain types of feelings. Unhealthy consequences can occur when defense mechanisms try to distort reality. Such unhealthy consequences usually occur as a result of poor management of defense mechanisms.
Poor management of defense mechanisms occurs when one’s reality is distorted. Examples of distortion of reality include repression, identification, and rationalizations. Repression involves burying one’s feelings or thoughts from the awareness of others even though it could resurface or come about in various symbolic forms. Identification is the process of incorporating false objects or thoughts about oneself. Rationalization involves justifying one’s thoughts, behaviors, and motivations by making them appear acceptable. All these unhealthy forms of behavior occur when a child does not learn how to properly manage the defense mechanisms as they grow up. The result is that the child grows up with poor management of defense mechanism leading to undue stress, anxiety, and conflicts with oneself.
In conclusion, defense mechanisms are a great tool for handling stress through recognition and proper management when the tools are developed at an early age. Defense mechanisms are usually unconscious responses and conscious awareness decreases their effectiveness. While a child’s defense mechanisms are usually unconscious, the defense mechanisms of adults are more conscious and developed. Valliant categorized defense mechanisms as mature, immature, and intermediate and showed that defense mechanisms develop progressively from childhood. Parental guidance has also shown to play a huge in the child’s development of defense mechanisms and the quality of the adult life. Poor management of defense mechanisms can be recognized in children. In case the defense mechanisms are not developed at childhood, it can result in significant problems as one develops to adulthood.
References
Bogdanova, M. V., Rusyaeva, I. A., & Vyelgzhanina, A. O. (2016). gender and age aspects of child psychological defenses in child-mother relationships. Psychology in Russia , 9 (3), 141.
Cramer, P. (2015). Defense mechanisms: 40 years of empirical research. Journal of Personality Assessment , 97 (2), 114-122.
Geraerts, E., Dritschel, B., Kreplin, U., Miyagawa, L., & Waddington, J. (2012). Reduced specificity of negative autobiographical memories in repressive coping. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry , 43 , S32-S36.
Hart, J. (2014). Toward an integrative theory of psychological defense. Perspectives on Psychological Science , 9 (1), 19-39.
Jarrett, M., & Vince, R. (2017). Psychoanalytic theory, emotion and organizational paradox. In Handbook of Organizational Paradox: Approaches to Plurality, Tensions and Contradictions . Oxford University Press.
Petraglia, J., Bhatia, M., & Drapeau, M. (2017). Ten principles to guide psychodynamic technique with defense mechanisms: An examination of theory, research, and clinical implications. Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy , 7 (1), 2161-0487.
Sala, M. N., Testa, S., Pons, F., & Molina, P. (2015). Emotion regulation and defense mechanisms. Journal of Individual Differences .
Vaillant, G. E. (1992). Ego mechanisms of defense: a guide for clinicans and researchers . American Psychiatric Pub.
Von Hippel, W., & Trivers, R. (2011). The evolution and psychology of self-deception. Behavioral and Brain Sciences , 34 (1), 1-16.
