For example, people with difficult family lives may direct their energy toward excelling at work.
What Are Defense Mechanisms?
Defense mechanisms are unconscious responses that protect people from feelings of anxiety or threats to their sense of self.
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Sigmund Freud first described these defenses as part of his personality theory.
His daughter, Anna Freud, later did more work on psychological defense mechanisms.
For example, a person may compensate for struggles in their relationships by becoming highly skilled in their work.
What Is Compensation?
Compensation means excelling in one area to make up for real or perceived deficits in another.
The term compensation is frequently used in everyday language.
In some cases, compensation is a conscious choice.
When you compensate for a lesser ability, you minimize it by drawing attention to stronger skills.
However, compensation can also be unconscious.
Your feelings of inadequacy can be hidden and may drive you to take a stab at compensate for them.
A researcher feels inadequate because they have not published as many papers as their peers.
They become exclusively focused on their area of research interest and dedicate all their resources to studying it.
In a few years, they made a breakthrough discovery.
They really do not want to deal with conflict or the responsibility of having to mediate their employees problems.
At the same time, they go out of their way to avoid having guests for meals.
A person finds it challenging to manage their money and fears theyll make a big mistake.
A person with diabetes struggles to manage their blood sugar.
Instead, they throw themselves into their careers.
A person feels inferior compared to their partners ex.
Pros and Cons of Compensation
Compensation can have a powerful effect on your behavior and decisions.
While compensation is often portrayed in a negative light, it can have positive effects.
As a result, people will push themselves to overcome their weaknesses and achieve their goals.
Compensation is considered a mature defense mechanism.
Cons
Compensation can prevent people from trying new things or addressing their shortcomings.
For example, imagine that a young college student experiences feelings of inferiority because they dont have many friends.
Compensation, particularly if it involves relying heavily on another person, can also strain relationships.
People who arenarcissisticoften overcompensate when they experience lowself-esteemand jealousy by seeking out power and attention.
Here are a few ways that you could work on trying to stop overcompensating or undercompensating.
People often believe that positive posts on social media are a way to compensate for real-life insecurities.
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