Summary of Research: Defense Mechanisms and Their Relationship to Other Psychological Variables

Abstract

The development and psychometric characteristics of the various defense measures and their interrelationships were presented in the preceding three chapters. What follows here is a summary of the substantive findings regarding the relationships between defense mechanisms and other psychological variables. The findings are grouped under seven headings: personality characteristics, psychopathology, physical pathology, gender and gender orientation, family background and relationships, cognitive functioning, and occupations/nationality. Chapter 2 provided a summary of the research findings on developmental changes in defense use, and a summary of the research findings that use the Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI) appeared at the end of Chapter 6.