[Quiz] Which of these defense mechanisms do you lean on?

[Lexicon]

Found this the other day. Little basic, but still interesting.

Defense Mechanisms: Test Your Unconscious Coping Techniques | Psychologia


My result:

Your scores for each defense mechanism can be found below. The higher the score, the more you use it.
Regression: 0
Displacement: 0
Denial: 0
Repression: 0
Intellectualization: 40
Reaction formation: 0
Projection: 0
Compensation: 10
Please see the explanation below.

Intellectualization:

Psychological intellectualization is an attempt to deal with frustration and anxiety by leaving our emotions behind and concentrating on the rational analysis of upsetting events.

An example of this would be a patient diagnosed with a serious illness who deals with his anxiety by reading everything he can find about his diagnosis.

Compensation:

Psychological compensation is an attempt to compensate for real or imagined flaws in one area by excelling in another area.

For example, someone who fails academically may compensate by becoming a great athlete, or someone who is physically weak may compensate by concentrating on their studies or career.

Unattractive people may compensate by becoming great lovers or attentive partners.

Compensation may be positive or negative. While positive compensation helps overcome challenges, negative compensation increases the feeling of inferiority.

Feels accurate enough for me, though I’ve never really seen intellectualizing as a problematic coping response, in my case, specifically because I don’t dismiss my feelings in the process. I still acknowledge the bad feeling/allow myself to experience it, but I also try to figure out what the heck is going on. Taking apart the situation by learning about it/finding a solution helps me to resolve the problem that caused the negative emotional response to begin with, or helps me to accept/process the negative emotions in the event there’s nothing I can do to ‘solve’ the problem itself. It kind of helps me to give myself ‘permission’ to overtly express feeling shitty, because I feel like I’ve at least explored ways to resolve the issue myself before actively or passively burdening others with it... if that makes sense. Not that anyone needs permission to express such feelings, but it’s definitely a weird stopover in my brain, at times.

 

[Luminous]

Regression: 40
Displacement: 30
Denial: 0
Repression: 0
Intellectualization: 10
Reaction formation: 10
Projection: 10
Compensation: 20

Descriptions:

Regression.

Psychological regression is a childish way of dealing with challenges. Drinking, overeating, and other forms of escapism are all examples of regression.

Displacement.

Displacement is considered to be a neurotic mechanism, which means it is always negative and may take a toll on your relationships.

When displacement is used, your aggressive impulses are directed to an nonthreatening target that has nothing to do with whatever made you upset.

For example, you may start a fight with your spouse after having a hard day at work, or you may yell at your children because you are upset with your spouse.

The displacement technique is different from sublimation.

When sublimation is used, your negative emotions are transformed into something positive. For example, if you are going for a run to get rid of anger, you are using the sublimation technique.

Denial.

Psychological denial is a common coping mechanism.

In essence, denial is an attempt to reduce anxiety and worry by refusing to accept reality.

A woman may deny there is a lump in her breast. An overweight person may insist she is big-boned. Many overly optimistic and overly positive people are using denial as their dominant coping strategy.

Repression.

Psychological repression is an unconscious attempt to repel negative feelings as if they didn’t exist.

People who use repression as their dominant strategy are not aware of their emotional situation and feelings.

Sometimes they will not have any recollection of traumatic events that undoubtedly happened whatsoever.

Repression is slightly different from suppression. While repression is an unconscious process, suppression is a conscious blocking of impulses and emotions.

Intellectualization.

Psychological intellectualization is an attempt to deal with frustration and anxiety by leaving our emotions behind and concentrating on the rational analysis of upsetting events.

An example of this would be a patient diagnosed with a serious illness who deals with his anxiety by reading everything he can find about his diagnosis.

People who tend to use intellectualization may also use rationalization, another coping mechanism.

The difference between intellectualization and rationalization is that rationalization typically involves minimizing the importance of upsetting events or giving excuses.

For example, if your job interview didn’t go successfully, you may be tempted to say you weren’t that interested anyway.

Reaction formation.

Reaction formation is probably the most interesting defense mechanism of all.

In essence, reaction formation is converting your actual feelings to their exact opposite.

For example, you may be so deeply in love that you feel extremely vulnerable. To get rid of anxiety, you begin to act as if you were indifferent to, or even hated the person you love.

Another example is when you behave overly friendly toward a person who you secretly dislike.

The key to reaction formation is exaggeration and compulsiveness. Needless to say, reaction formation is not a healthy way of dealing with emotional problems.

Projection.

Projection is a coping technique that helps reduce anxiety by attributing one’s unacceptable behavior to somebody else.

For example, your spouse may accuse you of being mean and not letting them talk while, in reality, it’s your spouse who doesn’t let you talk.

Another example would be when you dislike someone without any apparent reason.

To reduce your anxiety and to justify your feelings, you start thinking that it’s that person who doesn’t like you in the first place.

In extreme cases, people who use this defense mechanism may appear paranoid. They will display extreme distrust of others and build conspiracy theories.

Compensation.

Psychological compensation is an attempt to compensate for real or imagined flaws in one area by excelling in another area.

For example, someone who fails academically may compensate by becoming a great athlete, or someone who is physically weak may compensate by concentrating on their studies or career.

Unattractive people may compensate by becoming great lovers or attentive partners.

Compensation may be positive or negative. While positive compensation helps overcome challenges, negative compensation increases the feeling of inferiority.

Regression fits with being a 9. Yep. 999999[SUB]999[/SUB]

 

[Saturnal Snowqueen]

Interesting I'm so high in each(well compared to you guys, no 0s)

Regression: 40
Displacement: 20
Denial: 20
Repression: 40
Intellectualization: 30
Reaction formation: 40
Projection: 20
Compensation: 50

Compensation.
Psychological compensation is an attempt to compensate for real or imagined flaws in one area by excelling in another area.
For example, someone who fails academically may compensate by becoming a great athlete, or someone who is physically weak may compensate by concentrating on their studies or career.
Unattractive people may compensate by becoming great lovers or attentive partners.
Compensation may be positive or negative. While positive compensation helps overcome challenges, negative compensation increases the feeling of inferiority.

 

[Coriolis]

Regression: 0
Displacement: 0
Denial: 10
Repression: 90
Intellectualization: 90
Reaction formation: 0
Projection: 10
Compensation: 30

 

[Luminous]

Relating the possible results to the enneagram:

1 - Reaction Formation, Repression, and Displacement
2 - Repression, Identification, Reaction Formation, and Denial.
3 - Repression, Projection, and Displacement.
Compensation?
4 - Identification, Displacement
Introjection and Turning against the self aren't on the list.
5 - Displacement, Projection
Isolation isn't on the list.
Intellectualization?
6 - Projection Displacement
Identification isn't on the list
Compensation?
7 - Repression,
Externalization, and Acting out aren't on the list
Intellectualization?
8 - Denial, Repression, Displacement
9 - Regression, Repression, Denial
Dissociation isn't on the list

 

[Polaris]

Regression: 10
Displacement: 20
Denial: 0
Repression: 20
Intellectualization: 30
Reaction formation: 10
Projection: 0
Compensation: 40

 

[Peter Deadpan]

Displacement by a landslide - (Not providing the number)
Then regression - 40

I know, I'm the worst.
In my defense, I stopped throwing shit years ago, but I answered with those historical tendencies in mind.
I'm still very much an internally frustrated person with poor patience and a fair bit of externalized anger. Obviously.

 

[The Cat]

Borderline FTW:

Regression: 90
Displacement: 80
Denial: 30
Repression: 40
Intellectualization: 80
Reaction formation: 80
Projection: 90
Compensation: 70

I think y'all low scores are lying to the internet.

 

[Luminous]

I think y'all low scores are lying to the internet.

Or to ourselves.

 

[The Cat]

Denial aint just a river in Egypt.

 

[Lexicon]

[MENTION=30038]The Cat[/MENTION]. I think everyone scored high in some mechanism or another. These aren’t even all of them, as Lumi pointed out in an earlier post.

On a personal note, I used to lean on repression & isolation quite a bit more, but growth & years of therapy really helped with accepting negative emotions/building up my coping toolkit with healthier mechanisms, I think. I still intellectualize probably more than I should, but it’s a work in progress.

I probably compensate more than that test scored, as well, but the questionnaire isn’t perfect, in that sense.

Ultimately it’s not a competition to see who is more virtuous by having the least reliance on less healthy defense mechanisms. It’s just interesting to see which ones different people tend to lean on more/unconsciously prefer. There aren’t any winners here. That’s not the point at all.

 

[The Cat]

[MENTION=30038]The Cat[/MENTION]. I think everyone scored high in some mechanism or another. These aren’t even all of them, as Lumi pointed out in an earlier post.

On a personal note, I used to lean on repression & isolation quite a bit more, but growth & years of therapy really helped with accepting negative emotions/building up my coping toolkit with healthier mechanisms, I think. I still intellectualize probably more than I should, but it’s a work in progress.

I probably compensate more than that test scored, as well, but the questionnaire isn’t perfect, in that sense.

Ultimately it’s not a competition to see who is more virtuous by having the least reliance on less healthy defense mechanisms. It’s just interesting to see which ones different people tend to lean on more/unconsciously prefer. There aren’t any winners here. That’s not the point at all.

uh...CLEARLY, I'm winning, my numbers are impressively high.

 

[Lexicon]

uh...CLEARLY, I'm winning, my numbers are impressively high.

So you mean like, Charlie Sheen “winning?”

I’m going to hell.

 

[The Cat]

So you mean like, Charlie Sheen “winning?”

This cat is chalked full of Tiger Blood.

 

[Lexicon]

This cat is chalked full of Tiger Blood.

 

[The Cat]

I dont do cocaine. The world couldnt survive: The Cat on Coke.

 

[Lexicon]

I dont do cocaine. The world couldnt survive: The Cat on Coke.

The world couldn’t survive even one cat on coke, honestly.

 

[The Cat]

The world couldn’t survive even one cat on coke, honestly.

We would rule you all.

 

[Lexicon]

We would rule you all.

I’m... strangely fine with that. Like Planet of The Apes, but with cats.

 

[The Cat]

I’m... strangely fine with that. Like Planet of The Apes, but with cats.

We'd do much better than apes. (It's the tiger blood you see)