The Development of Defense Mechanisms

Cramer, Phebe

doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9025-1

Cited by 188 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 217 publications

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“…The adolescents and adults who attempted suicide were found to haveused immature and neurotic defenses more 20 , and girls used more turning against the self than boys. The results of this study are compatible with those of similar studies examining the relationship between the gender and the defense mechanisms in the literature 10,39,42,43 . Compatible with the results of the studies in other cultures, women used internalizing defense mechanisms such as turning against the self, whereas men used aggressive defense mechanisms such as isolation and turning against object more in Norm study of the Defense Mechanisms Inventory in Turkey 19 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Gender differences in defense mechanisms, ways of coping with stress and sense of identity in adolescent suicide attempts

2016

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The main aim of this study was to investigate the gender differences in defense mechanisms, ways of coping with stress and identity formation in relation to adolescent suicidal behavior. This study involved 64 adolescents between 12-17 years of age, who were admitted to the emergency service with a suicide attempt. They were evaluated with a semi-structured clinical interview (K-SADS), Ways of Coping Inventory (WCI), Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI) and Sense of Identity Assessment Form (SIAF). 60.9% (n = 39) of the adolescents were female, and 39.1% (n=25) were male. There were no statistically significant differences between the girls and the boys with respect to the clinical characteristics of the suicide attempt and the rate of psychiatric disorders. Of the 64 adolescents with suicide attempt, 47 (73.4%) had at least one, and 26 (40.6%) had more than one psychiatric disorder according to K-SADS. Disruptive behavior disorders were more frequent in males, whereas depression was more frequent in girls. The data indicated the importance of identity confusion, major depression and ADHD in adolescents with suicide attempt in both genders. 43.6% (n=17) of the girls and 36% (n=9) of the boys obtained scores higher than the cut-off point of SIAF indicating identity confusion. Professional help seeking and NSSI behaviors before the suicide attempt were more common in adolescents with identity confusion. While there were differences between genders with respect to the defense mechanisms used, no significant difference was found in terms of ways of coping. Evaluation of DMI scores revealed that the turning against object subscale score was significantly higher in boys compared to girls. While evaluating the adolescents at risk, their defense mechanisms, way of coping and sense of identity, as well as their psychiatric diagnosis should be assessed in detail in order to identify the suicidal thoughts and prevent possible suicide attempts.Key words: suicidal behavior, adolescent, gender, defense mechanism, ways of coping, sense of identity.Suicidal behavior in adolescents is an important public health problem today. Although the rate of suicidal behavior is reported to be low in childhood, suicidal thoughts and attempts are widespread in youth [1][2][3] . The prevalence of suicidal behavior in Turkey is lower than the prevalence reported in other countries, however it has been increasing especially in adolescents and young adults aged between 15-24 years 4 . Preventing the trend of increase of suicidal behavior in adolescents is only possible by determining the specific clinical characteristics. Numerous socio-demographical and psychological factors associated with suicidal behavior in adolescents were described. Suicidal thoughts or attempts in adolescents were found to be related to individual factors (gender, age, academic problems, interpersonal relationship problems, stressful life events, history of suicidal behavior) 5,6 ; familial factors

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Gender differences in defense mechanisms, ways of coping with stress and sense of identity in adolescent suicide attempts

2016

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“…Second, methods designed to elicit spontaneous thoughts such as hypnosis, meditation, and projective tests, which encourage people to observe and interpret even their most private thoughts, often result in the production of thoughts that are perceived to provide special self-insight or meaning (Cramer, 1991;Jacoby & Kelley, 1992;Murray, 1951;Poole, Lindsay, Memon, & Bull, 1995;Wegner & Smart, 1997;Westen, 1991;cf. Holmes, 1968).…”

Section: The (Perceived) Meaning Of Spontaneous Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

The (perceived) meaning of spontaneous thoughts.

Morewedge

Giblin

Norton³

2014

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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Spontaneous thoughts, the output of a broad category of uncontrolled and inaccessible higher order mental processes, arise frequently in everyday life. The seeming randomness by which spontaneous thoughts arise might give people good reason to dismiss them as meaningless. We suggest that it is precisely the lack of control over and access to the processes by which they arise that leads people to perceive spontaneous thoughts as revealing meaningful self-insight. Consequently, spontaneous thoughts potently influence judgment. A series of experiments provides evidence supporting two hypotheses. First, we hypothesize that the more a thought is perceived to be spontaneous, the more it is perceived to provide meaningful self-insight. Participants perceived more spontaneous kinds of thought (e.g., intuition) to reveal greater self-insight than did more controlled kinds of thought in Study 1 (e.g., deliberation). In Studies 2 and 3, participants perceived thoughts with the same content and target to reveal greater self-insight when spontaneously rather than deliberately generated (i.e., childhood memories and impressions formed). Second, we hypothesize that the greater self-insight attributed to thoughts that are (perceived to be) spontaneous leads those thoughts to more potently influence judgment. Participants felt more sexually attracted to an attractive person whom they thought of spontaneously than deliberately in Study 4, and reported their commitment to a current romantic relationship would be more affected by the spontaneous rather than deliberate recollection of a good or bad experience with their romantic partner in Study 5.

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“…There is a vast and largely unmapped domain in personality wherein reside such constructs as motives (McClelland, 1961), values (Rokeach, 1973, defense mechanisms (Cramer, 1991), coping styles (Lazarus, 1991), developmental issues and concerns (Erikson, 1963;Havighurst, 1972), personal strivings (Emmons, 1986), personal projects (Little, 1989), current concerns (Khnger, 1977), life tasks (Cantor & Kihlstrom, 1987), attachment styles (Hazan & Shaver, 1990), conditional patterns (Thorne, 1989), core confiictual relationship themes (Luborsky & Crits-Christoph, 1991), pattems of self-with-other (Ogilvie & Rose, this issue), domain-specific skills and talents (Gardner, 1993), strategies and tactics (D. M. Buss, 1991), and many more personality variables that are both linked to behavior (Cantor, 1990) and important for the full description of the person (McAdams, 1994a). This assorted collection of constructs makes up a second level of personality, to which 1 give the generic and doubtlessly inadequate label of personal concerns.…”

Section: The Problem With Traitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Do We Know When We Know a Person?

McAdams¹

1995

Journal of Personality

870

752

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Individual differences in personality may be described at three different levels. Level I consists of those broad, decontextualized, and relatively nonconditional constructs called "traits," which provide a dispositional signature for personality description. No description of a person is adequate without trait attributions, but trait attributions themselves yield little beyond a "psychology ofthe stranger." At Level II (called "personal concems"), personality descriptions invoke personal strivings, life tasks, defense mechanisms, coping strategies, domain-specific skills and values, and a wide assortment of other motivational, developmental, or strategic constructs that are contextualized in time, place, or role. While dispositional traits and personal concerns appear to have near-universal applicability. Level III presents frameworks and constructs that may be uniquely relevant to adulthood only, and perhaps only within modern societies that put a premium on the individuation of the self. Thus, in contemporary Western societies, a full description of personality commonly requires a consideration of the extent to which a human life expresses unity and purpose, which are the hallmarks of identity. Identity in adulthood is an inner story of the self that integrates the reconstmcted past, perceived present, and anticipated future to provide a life with unity, purpose, and meaning. At Level III, psychologists may explore the person's identity as an internalized and evolving life story. Each of the three levels has its own geography and requires its own indigenous nomenclatures, taxonomies, theories, frameworks, and laws.One of the great social rituals in the lives of middle-class American famihes is "the drive home." The ritual comes in many different forms.

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The Development of Defense Mechanisms

Cited by 188 publications

References 217 publications

Gender differences in defense mechanisms, ways of coping with stress and sense of identity in adolescent suicide attempts

Gender differences in defense mechanisms, ways of coping with stress and sense of identity in adolescent suicide attempts

The (perceived) meaning of spontaneous thoughts.

What Do We Know When We Know a Person?

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