Karen has just discovered her husband has cancer.She reacts in a detached manner and focuses on the fact that her husband will now need her more than he usually does.Friends and family are amazed at her surprisingly calm demeanor.The defense mechanism BEST illustrating Karen's response is:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Intellectualization is a defense mechanism in which a person deals with a stressful or emotional situation by focusing on the facts and analyzing them in a logical and detached manner, rather than experiencing and expressing the associated emotions. In this case, Karen's reaction of focusing on her husband's increased need for her rather than expressing her emotional reaction to her husband's cancer suggests that she is using intellectualization as a defense mechanism.

Karen Has Just Discovered Her Husband Has Cancer