The list given below embodies a number of statements in the context of adjustment and use of defence mechanisms. Identify those which highlight the role of defence mechanism ? Select from the code to give your answer. List (i) Giving time to solve problems that might otherwise may overwhelm us. (ii) Ensuring ‘wellness life style’. (iii) Sidetracking the issues. (iv) Unconscious use to promote comfort level in life situations. (v) Facing the challenges straightway. (vi) Offering explanations which are plausible Correct Answer (i), (iii), (iv) and (vi) Adjustment In psychology, adjustment refers to the behavioural process of balancing conflicting needs or needs challenged by obstacles in the environment. Humans and animals regularly adjust to their environment. For example, when they are stimulated by their physiological state to seek food, they eat (if possible) to reduce their hunger and thus adjust to the hunger stimulus. Defence mechanism: All of us, quite often, face environmental or personal obstacles in life which cause anxiety and lead to stress. Psychologists have given different names to stress such as frustration, conflict, pressure etc. To protect ourselves against anxiety and stress, our ego sets up mechanisms which are known as defence mechanisms. In psychoanalytic theory, Defence mechanisms are unrealistic and operate at the unconscious level. While one uses such a mechanism one is unaware of it. Defence mechanisms are not healthy methods to cope with anxiety and stress as they are an unrealistic approach to problems. If defence mechanisms are used frequently, they lead to, serious psychological disorders. The severity of stress depends on the individual personality, situations, contexts, duration, importance, the multiplicity of need, strength and quantity of conflicting forces, the eminence of anticipated stress, unfamiliarity or suddenness of the problem, perception of a problem, degree of threat, stress tolerance of the individual and external resources and supports etc. A defense mechanism is an automatic psychological process necessary for successful adaptation. It reflects an adaptive capacity. Key Points Conclusion: Giving time to solve problems that might otherwise overwhelm us. Sidetracking the issues. Unconscious use to promote comfort level in life situations. Offering explanations which are plausible All the statements need the role of the defence mechanism because the statements reflect that there are chances of increasing anxiety and stress. Hence option (3) is correct. Ensuring ‘wellness lifestyle’. Facing the challenges straightway. The two Statements reflects the readiness of the person to cope with anxiety and stress that doesn't require defence mechanism. Additional Information The following is a list of the main types of defence mechanisms: Projection: In projection, others are seen responsible for one's own shortcoming, mistake, misdeed, unacceptable impulses, thoughts and desires. Projection is the most common tendency being observed in human behaviour for ego protection. If a student fails in an examination he/she attributes it to poor teaching or the unfair behaviour of the teacher Reaction formation: When an individual protects himself from the dangerous desire developing of a conscious attitude and behaviour patterns opposite to repression, he uses reaction formation. In this situation, one conceals hate with love, cruelty with kindness, sexual promiscuity with moralistic sexual attitude and behaviour. Thus he creates hurdles or barriers that reinforce his repression. Regression: Regression is a defence mechanism in which one performs reverted behaviour. The decline in the attention of parents towards an elder child due to a new addition to the family may result in the elder one reverting to bedwetting and other infantile behaviour to draw parental attention. In regression, an individual retreats from reality and may exhibit behaviour which is not normally expected from that person. Repression: When a person excludes painful thoughts from his conscious awareness he uses repression. In case a person sees the accidental sudden demise of a beloved friend or family member, this painful experience may be excluded from his conscious self leading him to become amnesic to this experience. Rationalization: When a person justifies his maladaptive behaviour by false logic or ascribes it to noble motives which do not inspire it, it is called rationalization. Rationalisation mechanism has two main defective values i.e. It helps to justify particular specific behaviour Contributes to soften disappointment related with unattained goals. The following forms of behaviour indicate rationalisation: Search for reasons to justify behaviour, Inability to recognise inconsistencies or contradictions and To become upset if one's reasoning is not accepted or questioned. Halt for a short while and check your familiarity with the contents you have gone through so far. other kinds of defence mechanism: Denial of reality Fantasy Displacement Emotional Insulation Intellectualisation (Isolation) Undoing Identification Introjections Compensation Acting out Selective forgetting Negativism Sublimation