Understanding Freud's Defense Mechanisms Quiz

Which defense mechanism involves redirecting feelings from their original source to a safer substitute?

• Repression

• Displacement

• Projection

• Rationalization

What is the process called when an individual attributes their own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, and motives to another person?

• Denial

• Sublimation

• Projection

• Regression

Which defense mechanism is characterized by refusing to accept reality or facts, acting as if a painful event, thought, or feeling did not exist?

• Denial

• Repression

• Displacement

• Rationalization

When a person reverts to a previous phase of psychological development, which defense mechanism are they employing?

• Regression

• Projection

• Sublimation

• Displacement

What defense mechanism involves burying a painful feeling or thought from your awareness though it may resurface in symbolic form?

• Repression

• Denial

• Displacement

• Rationalization

Which defense mechanism involves offering a different explanation for one's perceptions or behaviors in the face of a changing reality?

• Rationalization

• Projection

• Denial

• Sublimation

Turning socially unacceptable urges into socially acceptable behavior is known as what?

• Rationalization

• Repression

• Sublimation

• Regression

Identify the defense mechanism: A teenager angry at their parents starts doing boxing as a way to channel their aggression.

• Displacement

• Sublimation

• Projection

• Regression

Which defense mechanism might be at work when a person who is frustrated with their boss yells at their spouse when they get home?

• Rationalization

• Displacement

• Denial

• Repression

A person who has forgotten about the traumatic event that occurred in their childhood is likely using which defense mechanism?

• Denial

• Repression

• Rationalization

• Regression