Repression

Person avoids anxiety by simply not allowing painful or dangerous thoughts to become conscious.

An executive’s desire to run amok and attack his boss and colleagues at a board meeting is denied access to his awareness.

Denial

Person simply refuses to acknowledge the existence of an external source of anxiety.

You are not prepared for tomorrow’s final exam, but you tell yourself that it’s not actually an important exam and that there’s no good reason not to go to a movie tonight.

Projection

Person attributes own unacceptable impulses, motives, or desires to other individuals.

The executive who repressed his destructive desires may project his anger onto his boss and claim that it is actually the boss who is hostile.

Rationalization

Person creates a socially acceptable reason for an action that actually reflects unacceptable motives.

A student explains away poor grades by citing the importance of the “total experience” of going to college and claiming that too much emphasis on grades would actually interfere with a well-rounded education.

Displacement

Person displaces hostility away from a dangerous object and onto a safer substitute.

After a perfect parking spot is taken by a person who cuts in front of your car, you release your pent-up anger by starting an argument with your roommate.

Intellectualization

Person represses emotional reactions in favor of overly logical response to a problem.

A woman who has been beaten and raped gives a detached, methodical description of the effects that such attacks may have on victims.

Regression

Person retreats from an upsetting conflict to an early developmental stage at which no one is expected to behave maturely or responsibly.

A boy who cannot cope with the anger he feels toward his rejecting mother regresses to infantile behavior, soiling his clothes and no longer taking care of his basic needs.