Review Question - QID 214482

The woman was recently fired and is upset at her boss but is taking her frustration out on her husband, who is less threatening in this situation. This ego defense mechanism is known as displacement.

Displacement is an immature ego defense. It typically occurs when an individual has unspoken emotions (usually anger or frustration) that the individual cannot express towards one individual (usually an authority figure) resulting in taking the hostile emotions out on a neutral third party (instead of the original/true object of the person's tension). Often the third party is someone that is less threatening. An example of this is a person being angry at her boss at work, and instead of yelling at her boss she takes it out on her husband or child at home. It is considered immature as it involves suppressing one's emotional awareness and contributes to a pathological way of dealing with tension.

Incorrect Answers:
Answer 1: Acting out is using actions rather than words to express one's feelings or thoughts. For example, a college athlete loses his match and he throws his tennis racket and breaks the net.

Answer 2: Denial is defined as avoiding awareness of a reality that is usually painful. For instance, an author whose book is rejected by a publisher tells her husband that she is fine and the company must have made a mistake.

Answer 4: Projection is attributing an unacceptable feeling to someone else. For example, a man who is flirting with his co-worker goes home and accuses his girlfriend of cheating on him.

Answer 5: Reaction formation is another immature ego defense that involves expressing the opposite as to how one feels. For example, a patient may state he finds someone repugnant and unappealing when actually he finds them attractive.

Bullet Summary:
Displacement is an immature ego defense in which the individual displaces negative feelings toward one individual onto another more acceptable individual.