MCQ – 88157

 48-year-old man comes to the physician for a routine health maintenance examination. He is asymptomatic. He reports that he recently found out that his wife had an affair with her personal trainer and that she now left him for her new partner. The patient is alone with their two children now. To be able to care for them, he had to reduce his working hours and to give up playing tennis twice a week. When asked about his feelings towards his wife and the situation, he reports that he has read several books about human emotion recently. He says, “Falling in love has neurological effects similar to those of amphetamines. I suppose, my wife was just seeking stimulation.” Which of the following defense mechanisms best describes this patient’s reaction?

Correct Answer � A Explanation

 Rationalization

Rationalization

If the defense mechanism displayed here was rationalization (psychiatry), the father would justify his own behavior by way of fallacious reasoning rather than try to explain his wife’s behavior

Intellectualization

By explaining his wife’s behavior in technical, neurological terms, this patient transposes his experience from an emotional to an intellectual level and thus defers confrontation with the reality of his situation. This defense mechanism is known as intellectualization.

Isolation of affect

If the defense mechanism displayed here was isolation of affect, this patient would talk about the strong emotions because of the breakup without actually showing any emotions. While this man does speak very rationally about emotions, it is not his emotions he is speaking about but his wife’s.

Splitting

If the defense mechanism displayed here was splitting, the father would have an all-good or all-bad view of his wife and perceive her, for example, as the one, who was solely to blame for the failure of their marriage.