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Article: Gender Differences in Self-Reported Defense Mechanisms: A Study Using the New Defense Style Questionnaire-60
- Article from:
- American Journal of Psychotherapy
- Article date:
- January 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright American Journal of Psychotherapy 2009. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Studies have shown that men and women differ in their use of defense mechanisms (e.g. Cramer, 1991; Watson and Sinha, 1998). However, how and why this difference exists is still open to debate. The present study explores the relationship between gender and defenses using the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-60; Trijsburg, Bond, & Drapeau, 2003). As expected, no significant differences were found in Overall Defensive Functioning (ODF); however, men and women differed in their choice of defense style, defense level, and individual defense mechanisms. Evidence is provided to support the notion that while overall adaptivity of defenses is comparable, men and women rely on different ...