Psychometric correlates of defensive style in process and reactive schizophrenics.

Abstract. This article concerns the utility of ego psychoanalytic perspectives in Rorschach interpretation. Psychoanalytic ego psychology focuses on how people cope with events in their lives and how effectively they can meet challenges to their sense of well-being. The way people deal with experienced distress constitutes their defensive style and determines to a large extent what kind of person they are. Adequate defenses against anxiety promote comfortable and productive adjustment, whereas ineffective defenses typically cause adjustment difficulties and susceptibility to psychological disorders. In Rorschach assessment, the nature and effectiveness of a person’s defensive style can often be identified with a sequence analysis that integrates the structural, thematic, and behavioral features in the protocol. In particular, the sequential quality of responses, especially preceding and following instances of cognitive slippage, can help identify causes of upsetting concerns, defensive efforts to alleviating these concerns, and the adequacy of these defensive efforts in restoring equanimity. This interpretive process is illustrated with attention to implications for differential diagnosis and treatment planning in the Rorschach protocol of a 20-year-old suicidal woman.

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Repressive-defensive style and physiological reactivity among children and adolescents with asthma

Journal of Psychosomatic Research ◽

10.1016/s0022-3999(99)00089-6 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 48 (2) ◽

pp. 133-140 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Jack H Nassau ◽

Gregory K Fritz ◽

Elizabeth L McQuaid

Keyword(s):

Children And Adolescents ◽

Physiological Reactivity ◽

Defensive Style

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Defensive Style: State or Trait?

Journal of Personality Assessment ◽

10.1207/s15327752jpa4705_15 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 47 (5) ◽

pp. 536-538 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Samuel Juni ◽

Diane S. Yanishefsky

Keyword(s):

Defensive Style

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Defensive style in alcoholics and nonalcoholics.

Journal of Studies on Alcohol ◽

10.15288/jsa.1977.38.465 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 38 (3) ◽

pp. 465-470 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

D M Donovan ◽

D J Rohsenow ◽

E J Schau ◽

M R O'leary

Keyword(s):

Defensive Style

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Defensive style in the families of schizophrenics and controls.

Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology ◽

10.1037/h0041149 ◽

1963 ◽

Vol 66 (5) ◽

pp. 512-518 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

James C. Baxter ◽

Joseph Becker ◽

Walter Hooks

Keyword(s):

Defensive Style

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Interpersonal Attraction and Defensive Style

The Journal of Social Psychology ◽

10.1080/00224545.1988.9711374 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 128 (2) ◽

pp. 275-277 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

George Mamalakis ◽

Robert M. Nevels ◽

Garland E. Blair ◽

Emi G. Webster

Keyword(s):

Interpersonal Attraction ◽

Defensive Style

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Shyness and Defensive Style

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1986.58.3.967 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 58 (3) ◽

pp. 967-973 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Frederick W. Foley ◽

Richard F. Heath ◽

David R. Chabot

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Social Anxiety ◽

Defense Mechanism ◽

Self Esteem ◽

The Self ◽

Subjective Distress ◽

Ego Threat ◽

Activity Preference ◽

Defensive Style ◽

The Relationship

The Stanford Shyness Survey, the Defense Mechanism Inventory and the Activity Preference Questionnaire were administered to 92 college students to examine the relationship among shyness, reactivity to anxiety, and defensive style. As hypothesized, shy persons experienced greater ego threat and social anxiety. They turned aggressive impulses inwardly against the self more frequently than not so shy people. Shy subjects also used significantly less repression and denial defenses, increasing their vulnerability to the experience of internalized subjective distress. Although there were also no differences between shy and nor shy students on defenses that turn unacceptable impulses outward (e.g., projection and displacement), it was speculated that shy persons engage in such defenses in ways that do not represent a threat to self-esteem.

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