Chapter 1. Chapter

1. According to Sigmund Freud, there are three components of personality. One is impulsive, one is moralistic and concerned with rules, and the other tries to manage anxiety caused by conflicts between the first two. Which of the personality components acts to reduce the uncomfortable feeling of anxiety?

2. It is often argued that young people, particularly girls, develop eating disorders in part because they are trying to emulate famous individuals (actors, models, etc.) who display unhealthy and often unattainable bodies. This desire to base our feelings or behaviors on another person might remind you of the defense mechanism called ________.

3. Which of the following defense mechanisms proposed by Sigmund Freud might be considered the least adaptive if used on a continual basis?

4. Joshua has a particularly difficult day at his job, where he works as a truck driver. The people responsible for loading his truck took twice as long as they needed to, there was unexpected traffic due to a car accident, and he delivered his load 3 hours later than scheduled. When he got back to the main office, his supervisor came down on him for being late. Instead of yelling at his supervisor, Joshua went home and used a sledgehammer to break up a sidewalk that he’d been removing for several weeks. After this physical work was over, he found that he felt better about the frustrations of the day. Which defense mechanism was Joshua using when he channeled his anger into the demolition of his sidewalk?

5. One of the most disturbing things that you can hear in a discussion of sexual assault is that the victim “asked for it,” based on the way they acted or dressed. This sort of “blame the victim” mentality employs the psychological defense mechanism of ________.

6. Adriana has made the mistake of falling behind on her taxes. She has not filed a tax return in several years, and is aware that she owes the government many thousands of dollars. Instead of dealing with the problem, she occupies herself with other activities until she can “forget” that she has this issue. From a Freudian perspective, she is using the defense mechanism of ________ to deal with the worry caused by her tax situation.

7. Even though he knows that he did not study properly for his exam, Carlton chooses to blame the other students in his study group for his failing grade. This act of shifting negative feelings onto another, more acceptable target is called ________.