16 Defense Mechanisms (And How They Show Up At Work)

Almost all of us^{1https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-022-02303-3} engage in defense mechanisms, knowingly and unknowingly. We tell jokes to escape awkward silence, become overly friendly to others when we feel guilty, or have a tough day at work and take it out on our family.

Defense mechanisms are a part of being human. But when you learn about them, you increase your emotional vision. It’s like when you study music theory, you can hear more of what’s going on in a song. 

In this article, we’ll go over the primary defense mechanisms so that you can upgrade your communication skills and emotional awareness.

What Are Defense Mechanisms?

Defense mechanisms^{2https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4796512/} are psychological tactics that people employ to protect themselves from feelings of anxiety, emotional distress, or threats to their self-esteem. But when you feel an intense and unpleasant emotion, something kicks into gear to prevent you from feeling that thing.

An example of a defense mechanism is someone making a joke instead of answering a question thoughtfully (to protect a possibly vulnerable exposure) or getting angry when someone asks for a favor instead of setting a boundary.

What is the purpose of defense mechanisms?

The purpose of defense mechanisms is to help people cope with stress, conflict, and uncomfortable emotions. A defense mechanism is an adaptation to cope with stress; it’s your subconscious attempting to protect you from scary feelings.

Sometimes, it can be too intense to experience insecurity, guilt, anxiety, or emotional intimacy, so we subconsciously bring forth a defense mechanism to guard us from feeling those feelings.

Often, defense mechanisms can be healthy and useful and help us navigate gracefully through life. But other times, they can cause us to act immaturely or prevent us from feeling what’s happening and getting to the emotional root of something inside ourselves.

16 Common Defense Mechanisms to Look Out For

Below is a list of some of the most common defense mechanisms you’ll likely spot in yourself, your coworkers, friends, and partners.

Anna Freud (Sigmund’s daughter) created the first ten on the list below. The rest have been developed since then.

Defense Mechanisms	Description
Denial	When you refuse to accept or acknowledge the reality of a situation or your feelings, thoughts, or behaviors.
Displacement	When you redirect negative emotions from one person or situation to a less threatening one.
Intellectualization	When you distance yourself emotionally from a distressing situation by excessively analyzing it intellectually.
Projection	When you attribute your undesirable thoughts, feelings, or characteristics to someone else, often as a means of avoiding self-awareness or taking responsibility.
Rationalization	When you justify or make excuses for your thoughts, feelings, or behaviors to avoid feeling guilty or accepting responsibility.
Reaction formation	When you express exaggerated behaviors or attitudes contradicting your true feelings or desires.
Regression	When you revert to earlier, more childlike behaviors in response to stress or discomfort.
Repression	When you unconsciously push distressing or threatening thoughts, memories, or emotions out of your consciousness.
Sublimation	When you channel negative or taboo energy into something positive or socially acceptable.
Introjection	When you internalize someone else’s beliefs, values, or qualities without thinking critically about what’s going on, usually to boost self-esteem or fit in.
Compartmentalization	When you put different parts of your life into separate internal boxes to avoid conflict or stress.
Undoing	When you feel guilty about a previous mistake and attempt to “undo” it by behaving in a way that signifies the opposite.
Fantasy	When you escape the discomfort of the present by retreating into an idealized imaginary world.
Deflecting humor	Telling a joke to divert attention from emotional intimacy or a complex emotion can manifest as nervous laughter.
Isolation of affect	When you separate the emotional context of a situation from what factually happened as a way of dissociating.
Acting out	When you engage in impulsive and immature behaviors to express feelings you can’t otherwise articulate.

Now, let’s dive deeper into each one.

1. Denial

Denial^{3https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8320389/} is when an individual refuses to accept or acknowledge the reality of a situation or their feelings, thoughts, or behaviors.

An example of denial might be an employee who constantly receives negative feedback from their supervisor but denies that there are any areas for improvement and believes their work is flawless.

Another example might be someone whose partner is cheating on them, but they refuse to acknowledge the situation because they don’t want to face the painful feelings of broken trust.

The nature of denial is to hide itself from you, so it can be challenging to spot when you’re denying some part of your life. And it can be scary to look for feelings you are denying because those feelings are inherently painful.

Action Step:  If you are wondering if you might be in denial about some part of your life, one helpful question to reflect on is:

Where am I being overly defensive about my choices?

If someone questions your choices or beliefs, your knee-jerk response is, “You’re wrong! Leave me alone, and don’t tell me what to do. I’m doing it right.” Then it’s worth opening yourself to the possibility that there’s some painful reality you might not want to look at.

2. Displacement

Displacement redirects negative emotions from one person or situation to a less threatening one.

One example might be an employee who is overwhelmed and frustrated by their workload, but they don’t feel comfortable expressing their emotions to their supervisor. Instead, they yell at their partner when they get home and believe they are justified.

Action Step: If you notice that you might be expressing some of your painful emotions from one part of your life to people on another part of your life, then the best steps to follow are:

• Ask yourself what the natural source of your frustrations is.
• Communicate your feelings as much as possible with the person causing you pain.

Learning about defense mechanisms is one powerful way to develop social intelligence skills. And if you’d like to take your social awareness to the next level, you might enjoy this upgrade:

3. Intellectualization

Intellectualization is a defense mechanism where individuals distance themselves emotionally from a distressing situation by excessively analyzing it intellectually.

For example, imagine a team leader who has just received news of budget cuts who responds by immediately delving into detailed financial analysis rather than allowing themselves to feel the emotional impact of the news.

Another common example is in an emotional conversation with a partner; when you hear something that brings up complicated emotions, you immediately start to theorize about the situation or generalize about how this relates to society at large.

There’s a place for such intellectual reflection, but it may be a defense mechanism when it happens automatically to cover up a negative emotion.

Action Step: If you notice yourself intellectualizing, pause and take three slow breaths. While breathing, feel your body as much as you can, and then say whatever you feel compelled to.

4. Projection

Projection is when you attribute your undesirable thoughts, feelings, or characteristics to someone else, often as a means of avoiding self-awareness or taking responsibility.

For example, an employee who has missed several deadlines might accuse their coworker of being disorganized and unreliable, projecting their shortcomings onto others.

When you feel quick to judge or condemn another, it could be something in yourself you are either seeing in them or placing onto them. The saying goes, “You spot it, you got it.”

Action Step: Any time you notice a negative judgment about someone else, pause and ask yourself if you also possess that trait.

Or, as a more proactive approach:

• Think of 3 people in your life who you feel most judgmental towards. 
• Then, for each person, write out your top five judgments of that person (the more honest you can be, the better!). 
• And then sit with each judgment you wrote out, and ask yourself if that is a quality that you possess and dislike in yourself. 
• Note that some judgments will likely be projections or qualities you also carry, but not all of them.

5. Rationalization

Rationalization is a defense mechanism where individuals justify or make excuses for their thoughts, feelings, or behaviors to avoid feeling guilty or accepting responsibility.

Rationalization comes up as a form of cognitive dissonance. Essentially, we don’t want to see ourselves as wrong, so we justify our behaviors and avoid taking responsibility for our actions. 

For example, think of an employee who consistently arrives late for meetings and rationalizes their behavior by claiming that traffic was out of their control (again), that they work better under pressure, or that their delay doesn’t affect others. 

Action Step: If you catch yourself rationalizing your behavior, the antidote is to take responsibility.

Here’s how:

• Ask yourself if there are places in life (work or otherwise) where, deep down, you know your behavior is below your integrity standards, but you continue to justify it.
• Then, write: “I know my behavior of _______ is causing myself and others harm by _______. It is within my power to change my behavior, and I intend to do so.”

6. Reaction formation

Reaction formation^{4https://www.britannica.com/science/reaction-formation} is when you express exaggerated behaviors or attitudes that contradict your true feelings or desires.

Usually, reaction formation occurs in response to feelings of insecurity.

One example might be an employee who feels insecure about their skills, so they constantly boast and act overly confident to cover up their true feelings of self-doubt.

Another example we see in media and real life is when a man experiences same-sex attraction but can’t admit it because of internalized social pressure, so he takes out his self-hatred by bullying LGBTQ folks.

If you are displaying reaction formation behaviors, the best thing you can do is to find someone to open up to about your insecurities. We know from Brené Brown that shame can’t survive when we share it safely with people who show empathy.

Action Step: Clarify what you feel insecure about. If you can, it might be helpful to write it out directly: “The three biggest things that I’m insecure about and try to cover up are…” 

Then, if you can share any one of those insecurities with a trusted friend, it will lighten your burden tremendously. It can be a tall ask to open up vulnerably to another person, but when that other person is a safe and compassionate listener, sharing with them is the best way to heal insecurities.

You might consider sharing with a professional if you can’t think of someone who could hold space for your insecurities. You can find therapists all over the world on this website. You could even share your insecurities with this AI life coach.

7. Regression

Regression is when you revert to earlier, more childlike behaviors in response to stress or discomfort.

This could look like an employee under significant pressure and responding by throwing temper tantrums or seeking excessive reassurance from their coworkers.

It could also occur in a partnership. I know that often, when I experience challenging emotions with my partner, I can turn into a small child who needs cuddling and safety.

Action Step: If you notice exhibiting childhood behaviors in parts of your life, there are two routes of action:

1. Embrace it. This is more challenging in the office but can work well in a romantic relationship or friendship. Sometimes, when a difficult emotion comes up, the best way to work through it and even get to the source of the pain is to give yourself full permission to act like a kid. This requires buy-in from your partner so they don’t react to your crying or tantrums but instead give space for your expression to reveal more profound parts of your experience.
2. Hold space for this part of yourself. If you notice the impulse to throw a tantrum, it can be healing to take a few minutes to yourself, get in touch with the part of you who feels young and hurt, and see if there are any unmet needs you have. One way to do this is through writing.
   1. You can write from the adult part of yourself: “Dear child part who is upset, is there anything you want me to know?”
   2. And then write a response from the younger part.
   3. You can go back and forth in this dialogue until you feel complete.

8. Repression

Repression is when you unconsciously push distressing or threatening thoughts, memories, or emotions out of your consciousness.

For example, a team member may have had a traumatizing public speaking incident once. They froze up and couldn’t continue with their presentation. It may have been so painful that they repressed parts of the memory. When discussing the event, they may need help to recall specific details of what happened.

Action Step: If you suspect you’ve repressed memories of an event, it’s likely because of an unprocessed trauma. While there are ways to deal with this on your own, it can be beneficial to seek the support of a professional to help you work through what happened and improve your mental health.

9. Sublimation

Sublimation involves redirecting socially unacceptable impulses or emotions into socially acceptable outlets. Simply put, it’s channeling potentially harmful or taboo energy into something positive or socially acceptable.

One example comes up in the 2019 movie about Mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers would feel anger throughout the day, but because that was unacceptable, he would bring it into the swimming pool and express it through swimming ferocious laps.

As another example, I have a friend who, deep down, is a huge troll^{5https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/thenow/what-is-trolling/1/#}. And not in the wrong way. He has a solid impulse to mess with people, break things, and cause mayhem. He tends not to exhibit these troll-like impulses in his job or social circle. 

Instead, he found an online video game RPG where trolling is an accepted part of the gaming culture. So he dumps hours into this online zombie universe because it’s a permissible place for him to make mischief.

This is often one of the mature defenses and can be used healthily. It is why many artists turn to their creative medium to express feelings that couldn’t come out during the day. 

That said, it’s generally not advisable to sublimate at the expense of engaging in open and direct communication. For example, it wouldn’t be ideal if Mr. Rogers constantly avoided conflict, swallowed his anger, and later took it out on the swimming pool. It’d be better for him to embrace the conflict from the get-go healthily.

Action Step:  Do you have a primary sublimation activity? Some common feelings that people tend to sublimate are: 

• Anger (e.g., into sports)
• Sexual desire (e.g., into creative pursuits)
• Competitiveness (e.g., into gaming)
• Want to control (e.g., into cleaning)

If you notice that you sublimate, try reflecting on the following questions:

• What emotion am I sublimating?
• Why do I not feel able to express that emotion when it arises naturally?
• Are there any situations where I can either healthily express that emotion or name its presence?
  • For example, you might notice a desire to control your partner because you feel like you know what’s best. 

You could either find healthy and consensual ways to exercise this desire for control, perhaps in your sexual connection or in planning a trip together. 

Or, when you feel the impulse arise, you can name it without acting on it, “I notice I am feeling a controlling part of me coming up right now. I don’t want to act on it, but I wanted to let you know.”

10. Introjection

Introjection is internalizing someone else’s beliefs, values, or qualities without thinking critically about what’s happening. Usually, we do this to boost our self-esteem or to fit in.

An example might be an employee who unquestioningly adopts all of the CEO’s opinions and suppresses their dissenting ideas.

Another example is when people fall into cults. They tend to take on the leader’s worldview, often to fit in and at the expense of their identity.

Introjection also often occurs in narcissistic relationships, where the victim takes on the narcissist’s ideas.

Advice: If you notice that you might be taking on someone’s beliefs or opinions a little more than you’d like, reflect on the following prompts:

• Name five ways in which that person is wrong about something.
• Name five ways in which you know better than that person.
• Name three values that you possess that the other person does not.

11. Compartmentalization

Compartmentalization involves putting different parts of your life into separate internal boxes to avoid conflict or stress. It involves mentally and emotionally isolating specific thoughts, emotions, or experiences from one another.

For example, imagine a college student who excels in her rigorous science courses and aspires to attend medical school. However, she’s also part of a social circle that doesn’t prioritize academics. She studies diligently during the week and then dances on top of bars on the weekends. She’s essentially created two identities for herself that never cross. 

Compartmentalization can undoubtedly have its place; in the example above, it might allow the student to maintain a high GPA alongside a satisfying social life. The tension between living two unintegrated lives could eventually weigh on her.

Advice: If you find yourself compartmentalizing different parts of yourself and would like to integrate them more, you could try using a tactic from the field of “parts work.” Components work is a web of psychological and therapeutic modalities that view the “self” as a collection of different sub-personalities or parts. Here’s a basic practice:

• First, determine the two parts of yourself you’d like to de-compartmentalize. Maybe one is the part of you that shoots for straight As, and the other is the part of you who just wants to feel belonging with their party-loving friends.
• It can then be helpful to give a name to each of these parts, just for the sake of the activity. Go with whatever name comes up; don’t overthink it. “High achiever,” “good student,” “smart Cindy,” whatever it might be.
• Then, place two chairs across from each other. Come in to create more harmony and teamwork between these two parts.
• Sit in chair one and embody the first part. Let yourself become that part. Feel it, think like it. Then, look at the other chair and imagine the other amount sitting there. From part 1, share everything you need to part 2.
• Then stand up, return to neutral, and leave part 1 in the chair. Then, go to chair 2, sit down, and become the second part. Take in everything that part 1 said, then respond in kind.
• Go back and forth as many times as you’d like.
• When you feel complete, thank both parts of you and welcome them back into your greater self.

If this practice feels too intense or contrived, you could do it in written form or even imagine the back and forth in your head.

12. Undoing 

Undoing is when individuals try to “undo” a previous mistake by behaving in a way that signifies the opposite.

For example, an employee who made an offensive comment during a meeting might later go out of their way to offer help, compliments, or apologies to others to make amends and compensate for their previous behavior.

Oftentimes, undoing is an expression of our feelings of guilt. We hope that if we act generously, we can make up for whatever we feel guilty about. 

It would be great if life had a “command z” option, but we’ll have to wait a few more years for Silicon Valley to come up with that one!

Action Step: If you notice yourself engaging in undoing behaviors, take a moment and go through the following steps:

• Identify what action you feel guilty about.
• Take a few breaths and let yourself feel whatever guilt is present.
• Approach the person who you feel like you wronged and offer an apology.

13. Fantasy

Fantasy is a defense mechanism where individuals escape the present discomfort by retreating into an idealized imaginary world. It involves creating elaborate scenarios or daydreams to avoid facing reality.

An employee who feels unfulfilled or dissatisfied with their current job might constantly daydream about winning the lottery and leaving their work behind to live a life of luxury and leisure.

As with many of these mechanisms, there is a place for fantasy and escape. I went to my first Renaissance Faire last year, and let me tell you, it was awesome! I found myself shockingly relieved to escape the stresses of the real world for a few days while I hung out with sworders and fairies.

The problem emerges when we use our fantasies and escapist retreats not for rejuvenation but to avoid acting to better our circumstances.

Action Step: If you feel like you might be using fantasy as an escape from your life challenges, then try the following:

• Clarify what the main issues in your life are that you want to escape from.
• Then, clarify what your desired circumstance is.
• Then, make a plan (even if it’s imperfect!) to change your circumstances. 

If you’re unsure where to start, you might benefit from this guide:

14. Deflecting humor

Deflecting humor is when someone tells a joke to divert attention away from emotional intimacy or a difficult emotion. This can also manifest as nervous laughter.

An example is if you open up to a colleague about a struggle you’re facing, and they immediately respond by cutting the tension with a joke.

You: “I watched the movie Oppenheimer last night, and I felt some intense grief.”

Colleague: “Who wouldn’t feel grief after watching that 3-hour movie!? Nolan made that thing way too long! Am I right?”

Action Step: If you notice that you used deflecting humor recently as a form of avoidance, take a moment to ask yourself: 

• What is the feeling I was avoiding feeling? Or was there a level of intimacy I was avoiding? 
• Why was I avoiding it?

Next time you notice the impulse to tell a joke to deflect, see if you can catch yourself, take a pause, and meet the moment with sincerity.

15. Isolation of affect

Isolation of affect is a defense mechanism where an individual separates the emotional context of a situation from what factually happened. If there is an emotionally intense or even traumatic event, this is a form of dissociation from the painful feelings.

For example, imagine an employee who witnesses a colleague receiving painfully harsh criticism. This could have been acutely uncomfortable for the employee to witness, so when they describe to others what happened, they might calmly explain the situation without any hint of emotional reaction or empathy toward their coworker.

Action Step: If you notice yourself describing an emotionally intense situation (that happened to you or another person) with the same cool tone as you might talk about what you’re making for dinner, then try these steps:

• See if you can name what feelings you are avoiding.
• Then, write down the story, including the emotional component. Or tell it to a friend while conveying the emotional undertone.

16. Acting out

Acting out is a defense mechanism where an individual engages in impulsive and immature behaviors to express feelings they can’t articulate. Rather than saying, “I’m angry with you,” they might slam a door or storm out of a room. 

In a workplace setting, acting out could manifest as a team member openly displaying irritation, with some snarky passive-aggression during meetings instead of addressing the issue directly and constructively.

The antidote to acting out is to state your emotions openly.

Action Step: Think of a time you recently acted out. Then fill in the following sentence:

• When ______ happened, I felt ______. Instead of expressing my emotions, I took them out indirectly by ______.

The next time you notice this complex emotion coming up, it will be a massive benefit if you can internally think: “I notice I am feeling ______ right now.” It is an extra bonus if you can share this with the other person, but sometimes delivering that communication won’t feel possible.

Why It’s Useful For You to Know About Defense Mechanisms

Learning about defense mechanisms is a shortcut to deeper self-awareness and understanding of human psychology. 

Our mind and body respond automatically to emotional discomfort that many don’t notice. 

It’s like how new car models will turn your steering wheel for you if the car senses that you are driving out of your lane. The car is employing a defense mechanism to keep itself (and you) safe. Learning about psychological defense mechanisms is like learning how the car has been programmed to autopilot. 

It’s the instruction manual to your subconscious that nobody ever gave you.

Understanding your defense mechanisms will give you clues into the emotions you struggle with. This gives you more choice in dealing with your feelings and communications instead of letting the autopilot take over. You can also spot when other people act out of defense mechanisms, which gives you more agency in interacting with them.

Sigmund Freud’s thoughts on defense mechanisms

Sigmund Freud originally developed the concept of defense mechanisms in his psychoanalytic theory.

His basic idea^{6https://www.cureus.com/articles/3241-association-of-ego-defense-mechanisms-with-academic-performance-anxiety-and-depression-in-medical-students-a-mixed-methods-study#!/} was that when our primal urges (the id) conflict with what we think we should feel (the superego), a defense mechanism pops up to smooth over the conflict and keep us in homeostasis. 

In her seminal 1936 book The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense, his daughter Anna Freud ran with the idea. She came up with the first ten on our list above.

Takeaways on Defense Mechanisms

We all exhibit defense mechanisms, but the better you know what they are, the better you can spot them in yourself and others and become a more self-aware and skillful communicator. 

Just remember, here are 16 common defense mechanisms:

• Denial: Refusing to accept reality or facts, often to avoid discomfort or pain.
• Displacement: Redirecting emotions from a threatening target to a safer one.
• Intellectualization: Focusing on logical reasoning and facts to avoid emotionally stressful situations.
• Projection: Attributing one’s undesirable traits to someone else.
• Rationalization: Creating logical excuses to justify irrational behavior or feelings.
• Reaction formation: Doing the opposite of what one truly feels, often to hide true feelings.
• Regression: Reverting to an earlier, less mature stage of development when faced with stress.
• Repression: Pushing painful or uncomfortable thoughts out of conscious awareness.
• Sublimation: Redirecting unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable actions.
• Introjection: Internalizing external experiences or attributes, often of others, into one’s self-concept.
• Compartmentalization: Separating conflicting thoughts or feelings into isolated compartments in the mind.
• Undoing: Attempting to negate a thought or action with another that symbolizes the opposite.
• Identification: Aligning oneself with a more powerful figure or cause to boost self-esteem.
• Fantasy: Escaping reality by retreating into an idealized imaginary world.
• Deflecting humor: Using comedy to diffuse difficult situations or lighten emotional burdens.
• Isolation of effect: Detaching emotions from thoughts, making it possible to think about distressing topics without feeling the associated feelings.

Good luck with spotting defense mechanisms! And if you’d like to continue to boost your self-awareness, this article would be a significant next step.