Developmental psychology.pdf

434 Integration of Behavior
"Last Friday, at 8:45 A.M ? , I came
back to my room from breakfast.
When I entered the room, I woke
up my roommate. He jumped up
quickly and asked what time it was.
When I told him, he muttered an
obscenity, settled back into bed,
and then rolled over saying, "It was
probably a lousy lecture today
anyway." He had missed his 8:00
class.
'Ophelia and Delilah were in the
dining room eating lunch. The menu
for that day listed gingerbread as
the dessert. Ophelia, who liked
gingerbread very much, was quite
pleased, and while in line to get her
food, thought about getting two
servings but then decided against it
and only took one. Finishing her
meal, Ophelia turned to eat her
gingerbread only to discover she
had no milk to drink with it. She got
up to get some more and asked
Delilah if she also would like some
milk. Delilah declined. When
Ophelia returned she had not only a
glass of milk, but another serving of
gingerbread which she set down in
front of Delilah. The following
conversation took place.
Delilah: What's that for?
Ophelia: You asked me to get you
some gingerbread.
Delilah: No, I didn't.
Ophelia: Yes you did. Why did you
think I asked you if you wanted
more milk?
Delilah: I thought you were just
being nice. And I didn't ask for any
gingerbread.
Ophelia: You didn't? Could have
sworn you did. Couldn't figure out
why you didn't want any milk to eat
with your gingerbread. Makes
sense now since you never asked
for it in the first place. Guess I'll
have to eat it then.
Is Ophelia mad, or is there
method in her madness? Methinks
a little projection is at play here.
Wanting two desserts, how easy it
would be to hear someone else
asking for another dessert.
Common Defense Mechanisms One instance in which repression is aided by
another process occurs in rationalization, in which the individual is unaware of the
repressed thoughts and also substitutes some false reasons for the real ones. These false
reasons further the self-deception. An abandoned spouse says: "I knew Jackie would
never amount to anything anyway; I was just persuaded to get married." A three-yearold
boy wanted to take his teddy bear to school, but he also wanted to be a "big boy"
and go without it. He decided not to take the bear. His reason: the bear might catch
cold.*
Another defense mechanism is called reaction formation because the individual
presumably adopts attitudes and behaviors that are the opposite of those judged
to be unacceptable. These opposed reactions, it is hypothesized, also serve to aid repression
(Juni, 1981).
After a narrow escape on one of his missions, a wartime flyer reported that
he was eager to return to combat, and during an interview he declared that he never
feared anything. He fainted, however, after each of his next two flights. Later, following
administration of sodium pentothal, the "truth drug," he revealed more basic feelings.
He said, "I was scared. Me scared! I didn't think I'd ever be scared" (White,
1964).
A parent, finding childrearing an arduous task, may try to conceal this resentment
from herself by being markedly solicitous of the child's welfare. Similarly,
an overly "sweet" person indicated that when he became angry with other people, he
"killed 'em with kindness."
Rather than adopting false reasons or reasons that are the opposite of our
underlying feelings, we sometimes attribute the problem to someone else, in which case
we are engaging in projection. Again, there are two general aspects: repressing unacceptable
thoughts and, in this case, ascribing them to others, which promotes the
repressive process. In a general sense, whenever people attribute their own characteristics
to another source, projection is involved. In the context of defense mechanisms,
however, projection has a more restricted meaning; it occurs only when an individual
attributes to others characteristics that he or she is not aware of possessing in the first
place (Holmes, 1981).
In a study of projection as a defense mechanism, college men rated themselves
and others on four socially undesirable traits: stinginess, obstinacy, disorderliness, and
bashfulness. Some students gave themselves high ratings on traits for which they received
high ratings from their friends. But other students gave themselves low ratings
on traits for which they received high ratings from friends and, furthermore, they rated
other people higher on these undesirable traits than did the rest of the group (Sears,
1936). They lacked insight into their own undesirable qualities and falsely saw them
in others instead.*
Using Defense Mechanisms The use of defense mechanisms is not necessarily
disadvantageous to adjustment. When a disappointment is forgotten or denied by
repression, the individual may become more readily involved in new activities. As a
result of reaction formation, the fearful flyer continued his assignments. However,
repression requires "psychic energy" in keeping unwanted thoughts from awareness,
and the individual may find it difficult to give concentrated attention to other matters.
Defense mechanisms can be helpful in two respects. Through repression we
may forget some of our most difficult problems, and through other defense mechanisms
we may find partially effective ways of dealing with them (Figure 16.9). Again, there
are integrative and nonintegrative reactions.