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Unit I Concepts and Theories Basic to Human Development
TABLE 1-6
Ego Adaptive or Defense Mechanisms
Mechanism
Definitions/Example
Compartmentalization
Separation of two incompatible aspects of the psyche from each other to maintain psychological comfort,
behavioral manifestations show the inconsistency.
Example: The person who attends church regularly and is overtly religious conducts a business that
includes handling stolen goods.
Overachievement in one area to offset deficiencies, real or imagined, or to overcome failure or frustration in
another area.
Example: The student who makes poor grades devotes much time and energy to succeed in music or
sports.
Reacting to a single idea with all of the emotions associated with a group of ideas; expressing a complex
group of ideas with a single word or phrase.
Example: The person says the word crazy for many types of mental illness and for feelings of fear and
shame or awesome for joy and surprise.
Unconscious conflicts are disguised and expressed symbolically by physical symptoms involving portions of
the body, especially the five senses and motor areas. Symptoms are frequently not related to innervation by sensory or motor nerves.
Example: The person who is under great pressure on the job awakes at 6 A.M. and is unable to walk
but is unconcerned about the symptoms.
Failure to recognize an unacceptable impulse or undesirable but obvious thought, fact, behavior, conflict, or
situation, or its consequences or implications.
Example: The alcoholic person believes that he or she has no problem with drinking even though
family and work colleagues observe the classic signs.
Release or redirection of feelings and impulses on a safe object or person as a substitute for that which
aroused the feeling.
Example: The person punches a punching bag after an argument with the boss.
Repression or splitting off from awareness of a portion of a personality or of consciousness; however,
repressed material continues to affect behavior (compartmentalization).
Example: A client discusses a conflict-laden subject and goes into a trance.
Repression of the emotional component of a situation, although the person is able to remember the
thought, memory, or event; dealing with problems as interesting events that can be rationally
explained but have no feelings attached.
Example: The person talks about the spouse’s death and details of the accident that caused it with an
apathetic expression and without crying or signs of grieving.
Unconscious modeling of another person so that basic values, attitudes, and behavior are similar to those of
a significant person or group, but overt behavior is manifested in an individual manner. (Imitation is not
considered a defense mechanism per se, but imitation usually precedes identification. Imitation is
consciously copying another’s values, attitudes, movements, etc.)
Example: The adolescent over time manifests the assertive behavior and states ideas similar to those
that she admires in one of her instructors, although she is unaware that her behavior is similar.
Attributing one’s unacceptable or anxiety-provoking feelings, thoughts, impulses, wishes, or characteristics
to another person.
Example: The person declares that the supervisor is lazy and prejudiced; colleagues note that this
person often needs help at work and frequently makes derogatory remarks about others.
Justification of behavior or offering a socially acceptable, intellectual, and apparently logical explanation for
an act or decision actually caused by unconscious or verbalized impulses. Behavior in response to unrecognized motives precedes reasons for it.
Example: A student fails a course but maintains that the course was not important and that the grade
can be made up in another course.
Unacceptable impulses repressed, denied, and reacted to by opposite overt behavior.
Example: A married woman who is unconsciously disturbed by feeling sexually attracted to one of
her husband’s friends treats him rudely and keeps him at a safe distance.
Compensation
Condensation
Conversion
Denial
Displacement
Dissociation
Emotional isolation
Identification
Projection
Rationalization
Reaction formation
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Chapter 1 Biological, Ecological-Social, Psychological, and Moral Dimensions of the Person: Overview of Theories
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TABLE 1-6
Ego Adaptive or Defense Mechanisms—continued
Mechanism
Definitions/Example
Regression
Adopting behavior characteristic of a previous developmental level; the ego returns to an immature but
more gratifying state of development in thought, feeling, or behavior.
Example: The person takes a nap, curled in a fetal position, on arriving home after a stressful day at
work.
Automatic, involuntary exclusion of a painful or conflicting feeling, thought, impulse, experience, or memory
from awareness. The thought or memory of the event is not consciously perceived.
Example: The mother seems unaware of the date or events surrounding her child’s death and shows
no emotions when the death is discussed.
Substitution of a socially acceptable behavior for an unacceptable sexual or aggressive drive or impulse.
Example: The adolescent is forbidden by her parents to have a date until she graduates from high
school. She gives much time and energy to editorial work and writing for the school paper. The
editor of the school paper and the faculty advisor are males.
Intentional exclusion of material from consciousness.
Example: The husband carries the bills in his pocket for a week before remembering to mail in the
payments.
One object or act unconsciously represents a complex group of objects and acts. External objects or acts
stand for internal or repressed desires, ideas, attitudes, or feelings. The symbol may not overtly
appear to be related to the repressed ideas or feelings.
Example: The husband sends his wife a bouquet of roses, which ordinarily represents love and
beauty. But roses have thorns, and his beautiful wife is hard to live with. He consciously focuses on
her beauty.
An act, communication, or thought that cancels the significance or partially negates a previous one;
treating an experience as if it had never occurred.
Example: The husband purchases a gift for his wife after a quarrel the previous evening.
Repression
Sublimation
Suppression
Symbolization
Undoing
uncomfortable interpersonal relationships, is the chief disruptive force
in interpersonal relationships, is contagious through empathic feelings,
and can be relieved by being in a secure interpersonal relationship. Relief of anxiety fosters a sense of “good-me” (76).
An important principle for the study and care of people is the
One-Genus Postulate, which states we are all more simply human
than otherwise, hence more similar than different in basic needs, development, and the meaning of our behavior (76). This is basic
to how nurses perceive clients although cultural differences are
acknowledged.
Sullivan’s developmental stages and concepts are described in
relation to each developmental era. These concepts are pertinent
to understanding and care of the developing person and family
unit (38, 76).
Erikson: Epigenetic Theory
of Personality Development
Erik Erikson (20, 21), a neo-analytic theorist, formulated the
Epigenetic Theory based on the principle of the unfolding embryo:
Anything that grows has a ground plan and each part has its time of
special ascendancy until all parts have arisen to form a functional
whole. A result of mastering the developmental tasks of each stage
is a virtue, a feeling of competence or direction.
Erikson’s psychosexual theory enlarges on Psychoanalytic Theory. It is not limited to historical era, specific culture, or personality types. It encompasses development through the life span, is
universal to all people, and acknowledges that society, heredity,
and childhood experiences all influence the person’s development
(20, 21). See Figure 1-3 for Erikson’s eight stages of development of the person. The developmental task or crisis for each stage
and related virtue are depicted (16, 20, 21).
The following are basic principles of Erikson’s theory, based on
cross-cultural studies (16, 20, 21, 38):
1. There is a step-by-step (stage-by-stage) unfolding of emotional and social development during encounters with the environment. Each stage lays the groundwork for the next stage.
2. Each phase has a specific developmental task to achieve or
solve. These tasks describe the order and sequence of human
development and the conditions necessary to accomplish
them, but actual accomplishment is done at an individual
pace, tempo, and intensity.
3. Each psychosexual stage of development is a developmental
crisis because there is a radical change in the person’s perspective, a shift in energy, and an increased emotional vulnerability. How the person copes with the task and crisis depends on
previous developmental strengths and weaknesses.