Psychological Defense Mechanisms

Psychological defense mechanisms help people cope with life’s challenges, maintain self-respect, and process difficult emotions. Everyone uses some form of psychological defense, usually unconsciously. In psychological profiling, we note that people of certain personality types tend to rely on specific sets of defense mechanisms. Understanding these defenses is important for better insight into a person’s character. In this article, we’ll look at some common defense mechanisms.

Denial

One way people deal with difficulties is by refusing to believe they exist. This psychological defense mechanism has roots in childhood and often persists into adulthood. Young children are naturally egocentric, and denial is a normal stage of development for them. It can look like: “If I don’t acknowledge it, it didn’t happen.”

In adulthood, most people use denial to make life seem better to themselves or others. By denying unpleasant realities, a person convinces themselves that “everything is just fine.” For example, a woman may continue living with an alcoholic husband, enduring frequent family arguments. When confronted with the reality that her husband is not well and perhaps she should consider divorce, she insists he is getting better, that she is preserving the family, and that many good things are happening in their lives. In this case, she genuinely believes it, and denial helps her avoid facing a harsh reality she doesn’t know how to handle.

Other examples of denial include refusing to get annual health checkups, not admitting to living beyond one’s means (or earning too little) while constantly running up credit card debt, or someone who regularly uses light drugs but claims they are not addicted. All these are examples of denial in action.

Omnipotent Control

This defense mechanism also originates in childhood. If a baby is cold and a caregiver notices and warms them up, the child may feel as if they magically created warmth themselves. Young children perceive the sources of events this way, not yet realizing that control lies with others, not themselves.

As adults, feeling capable of influencing the world and having power is essential for self-respect. However, some people have an overwhelming need to feel omnipotent and describe everything that happens to them as a result of their own unlimited power. They organize their lives around demonstrating and using this sense of omnipotence, often disregarding ethical norms.

“Climbing over others” becomes the main activity and source of satisfaction for people dominated by omnipotent control. You’ll often find them in positions that require cunning, a love of excitement, risk, and a willingness to put all interests aside for the main goal—exerting their influence. These individuals are common in leadership roles in business, politics, the military, and any field where power is abundant.

Projection

Projection is the process by which internal experiences are mistakenly perceived as coming from outside. A person attributes their own traits, emotions, or behaviors to someone else. Since we can’t read others’ minds, we often rely on our own experiences to understand others.

In its harmful forms, projection leads to dangerous misunderstandings and can seriously damage relationships. Problems arise when projected beliefs seriously distort another person’s motives or when the projected content consists of denied and strongly negative parts of oneself.

For example, people with a paranoid personality type often distrust others and are suspicious. They tend to use other people’s resources for their own goals, and they project this tendency onto others, resulting in a lack of trust in anyone.

Idealization and Devaluation

As children, we want to believe that our parents can protect us from all of life’s dangers, that they are wonderful and perfect. As we grow, we encounter the flaws and hostility of those close to us, as well as illness and failure. Still, the belief that there is an “ideal” person somewhere often remains.

We are all prone to idealization. We carry a lingering need to attribute special qualities and power to people we are emotionally dependent on. For some, this need is especially strong: “My doctor is the best,” “My child’s tutor is the best in the area,” “The company I work for is better than any other in the industry.” The downside of idealization is that our own imperfections become especially painful to bear.

Devaluation is the inevitable flip side of idealization. Since nothing in life is perfect, idealization inevitably leads to disappointment. The more someone is idealized, the harsher the devaluation when reality sets in; the more illusions, the harder it is to cope when they are shattered.

For example, some people move from one partner to another, unable to form lasting, trusting relationships. Each time, they see the new partner as an ideal, only to be disappointed again when the previous partner turns out to be just another ordinary person.

At the International Academy for Lie Research, you can learn not only to recognize but also to work with each defense mechanism.