ego defense
Mental self-protection
Ego defense refers to psychological mechanisms that protect a person from anxiety, guilt, or threats to self-esteem.
These defenses operate largely unconsciously, distorting reality to make difficult truths more bearable: denial, rationalization, projection, repression.
His constant blaming of others was pure ego defense.
The term comes from Freudian psychoanalysis but has entered general usage.
- rationalizationInventing acceptable motives afterward
- sour grapesDisparaging the unattainable
- denialRefusal to accept reality
- self-deceptionConvincing yourself of falsehoods
- mental gymnasticsConvoluted reasoning to justify beliefs
avoidance · projection · repression · identification · reaction formation · scapegoating · displacement · self-serving bias · cognitive dissonance · compartmentalization · psychoanalysis · splitting · false self · withdrawal · intellectualization · deflection · fight or flight · coping
- defense mechanismsdenial, projection, repression, suppression, displacement
- self-deceptiondenial, delusion, wishful thinking, rationalization, willful blindness
- psychologypsychology, psychologist, therapist, psychiatrist, clinical psychology
- inner turmoilinner turmoil, inner conflict, inner struggle, self-doubt, indecision
- cognitive biasesconfirmation bias, anchoring bias, negativity bias, framing effect, optimism bias
- unconscious drivesrepressed desires, hidden desires, libido, instincts, survival instinct
ego defenseemotional processing
Handling feelings internally
acceptance · insight · reality testing · mindfulness · emotional regulation
ego defensevulnerability
Openness to harm
openness · authenticity · defenselessness · self-disclosure · unguardedness
ego defensesublimation
Solid to gas directly
humor · altruism · anticipation · self-awareness · self-actualization