DEFENSE MECHANISM PREFERENCES AND THE EXPRESSION OF ANXIETY

Abstract
The study was designed to assess the relationships between certain expressions of anxiety and preferences for defense mechanisms. Those subjects for whom the preferred defense mechanism was found (by the DM1) to be Principalization (PRN) revealed significantlylowerscores on the three interrelating indices of anxiety involving awareness and avowal of lack of emotional control (TMAS, AACL and UJ.24) than those who did not make that choice. They had significantlyhigherscores, however, on the unrelated index tapping deeper levels of consciousness (the Gottschalk-Gleser method of content analysis, 1969). These findings point to the significance of the role played by defense mechanisms in the expression of anxiety.