Psychodynamic Approaches to Personality: Apply It

  • Describe personality and the theories about how it develops
  • Understand the psychodynamic perspective on personality development
  • Describe defense mechanisms
  • Describe the psychosexual stages of personality development
  • Explain Adler and Erikson’s contributions to personality theory
  • Explain Carl Jung’s contributions to personality theory

In this unit, you were introduced to Psychodynamic theories of personality development as well as defense mechanisms.  For this activity, we’ll work through applying the different defense mechanisms with a relevant example to help you understand each of them.


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By nature, we’re not aware of defense mechanisms in the moment since they occur at the unconscious level. However, often with time and perspective, we’re able to see that our behavior or attitudes may have been influenced by defense mechanisms. Consider the following:

  • Can you recall a time when you were operating under a defense mechanism?  Which one, and how did it impact your behavior and perceptions?
  • Which defense mechanism(s) do you think you most commonly utilize?
  1. Adapted from: Vazire, S., Hart, W. & Reed, R. S. (2014) Personality:  A six-day unite lesson plan for high school psychology teachers. Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) of the American Psychological Association. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/e506462015-001l ↵