Which statement describes ego defense mechanism known as repression?

Which statement describes ego defense mechanism known as repression?

• A. Regression
• B. Involuntarily blocking unpleasant feelings and experiences from awareness.
• C. Reaction formation
• D. Sublimation

Answer: (B)

Repression is an unconscious defense that prevents distressing thoughts, memories, or feelings from entering conscious awareness. It happens automatically, without the person choosing to forget, to shield the ego from anxiety. The described statement captures this by emphasizing the involuntary blocking of unpleasant experiences from awareness, which is exactly what repression does. Other defenses operate differently: regression is about returning to earlier, childlike behaviors under stress; reaction formation involves adopting the opposite of an unacceptable impulse; sublimation channels impulses into socially acceptable outlets. None of these describe the unconscious blocking of awareness that repression entails.

Repression is an unconscious defense that prevents distressing thoughts, memories, or feelings from entering conscious awareness. It happens automatically, without the person choosing to forget, to shield the ego from anxiety. The described statement captures this by emphasizing the involuntary blocking of unpleasant experiences from awareness, which is exactly what repression does.

Other defenses operate differently: regression is about returning to earlier, childlike behaviors under stress; reaction formation involves adopting the opposite of an unacceptable impulse; sublimation channels impulses into socially acceptable outlets. None of these describe the unconscious blocking of awareness that repression entails.