Anna is a morally rigorous person who demands that her daughter remain a virgin until she is married.Anna cannot remember her own premarital sexual encounters.Which defense mechanism would likely account for this memory lapse?
A)rationalization
B)denial
C)repression
D)projection

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Repression is a defense mechanism that helps individuals to cope with anxiety by unconsciously pushing disturbing thoughts, feelings, and memories out of consciousness. Anna's inability to remember her own premarital sexual encounters could be explained by the repression of those memories, possibly due to her changing beliefs and values about premarital sex as she matured or due to her desire to enforce strict moral standards for her daughter. Rationalization refers to the act of justifying one's behavior or beliefs with seemingly plausible explanations. Denial involves the refusal to accept reality or acknowledge a disturbing fact. Projection arises when one attributes their own unconscious desires, impulses, or characteristics onto another person. None of these defense mechanisms apply to Anna's situation as described.

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