Defense-mechanism meaning

A physiological reaction of an organism used in self-protection, as against infection.
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Any of various usually unconscious mental processes, including denial, projection, rationalization, and repression, that protect the ego from shame, anxiety, conflict, loss of self-esteem, or other unacceptable feelings or thoughts.
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Any self-protective physiological system or reaction of an organism.
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Any thought process, as repression, introjection, denial, displacement, or sublimation, unconsciously used by an individual as a defense against feelings of guilt, anxiety, shame, etc.
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In psychoanalytic theory, any of various usually unconscious mental processes, including denial, projection, rationalization, and repression, that protect the ego from shame, anxiety, conflict, loss of self-esteem, or other unacceptable feelings or thoughts.
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A physiological reaction of an organism used in self-protection, as against infection.
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(psychology) A psychological strategy used unconsciously by people to cope with harmful or stressful situations.
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(evolutionary biology) An automatic reaction of the body against foreign antibodies.
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Sentence Examples

  • Adolescents may develop adjustment disorders as part of a defense mechanism meant to break their feelings of dependence on parents.

  • One analysis of antisocial behavior is that it is a defense mechanism that helps children avoid painful feelings, or avoid the anxiety caused by lack of control over the environment.

  • While there is no exact period of time a person will stay in this stage, this defense mechanism is used when the pain of accepting a person's death is too great to face.

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Words near defense-mechanism in the Dictionary