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The Assessment of Primitive Defense Mechanisms by Projective Techniques

  • Chapter
The Concept of Defense Mechanisms in Contemporary Psychology

Abstract

Defense mechanisms are regarded as means by which the ego protects itself against such unpleasurable experiences as anxiety, depression, guilt, and shame (e.g., Fenichel, 1945; A. Freud, 1936/1959; S. Freud, 1972b). A symptom is seen as the result of the failure of a defense against instinctual drive derivatives (Freud, 1972b). Various constellations of defense mechanisms are regarded as more or less specific to the different types of neurosis (A. Freud, 1936/1959; S. Freud, 1972b). However, defense mechanisms are not regarded as pathogenic per se, but only when used in exaggeration (Freud, 1972a, 1972c) or in a rigid or overgeneralized way (Loewenstein, 1967). The adaptive functions of defense mechanisms were stressed by Anna Freud (1936/1959), Hartmann (1939), and others. According to A. Freud, each person chooses a limited number of defense mechanisms to protect oneself against unpleasurable experiences. The constellation of defense mechanisms habitually used contributes to what is called a person’s “character” (A. Freud, 1936/1959; Hoffmann, 1984; Reich, 1933). According to Millon (1984, p. 460), a systematic assessment of defense mechanisms “is central to a comprehensive personality assessment.”

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Authors
  1. Falk Leichsenring
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Personality Psychology, University of Leiden, 2300 RB, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Uwe Hentschel Ph.D.

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Lund, S-22350, Lund, Sweden

    Gudmund J. W. Smith Ph.D.

  3. Center for Psychotherapy Research, D-70597, Stuttgart 70, Germany

    Wolfram Ehlers M.D.

  4. Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, 16802, University Park, PA, USA

    Juris G. Draguns Ph.D.

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Leichsenring, F. (1993). The Assessment of Primitive Defense Mechanisms by Projective Techniques. In: Hentschel, U., Smith, G.J.W., Ehlers, W., Draguns, J.G. (eds) The Concept of Defense Mechanisms in Contemporary Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8303-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8303-1_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-8303-1

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