Which defense mechanism involves adopting others' values as your own?

Which defense mechanism involves adopting others' values as your own?

• A. Sublimation
• B. Displacement
• C. Introjection
• D. Reaction Formation

Answer: (C)

Introjection involves taking external beliefs, values, or standards and making them part of one’s own psyche. It helps reduce anxiety by aligning the self with what important others or authorities expect, so those external standards feel like personal convictions. A common example is a child internalizing their parents’ rules and morals, so those expectations become their own guiding beliefs rather than external demands. This differs from other defenses: sublimation channels unacceptable urges into socially acceptable activities rather than adopting someone else’s values; displacement redirects feelings onto a safer target rather than internalizing standards; reaction formation presents the opposite attitude of a true impulse to hide it, not adopt it as one’s own.

Introjection involves taking external beliefs, values, or standards and making them part of one’s own psyche. It helps reduce anxiety by aligning the self with what important others or authorities expect, so those external standards feel like personal convictions. A common example is a child internalizing their parents’ rules and morals, so those expectations become their own guiding beliefs rather than external demands. This differs from other defenses: sublimation channels unacceptable urges into socially acceptable activities rather than adopting someone else’s values; displacement redirects feelings onto a safer target rather than internalizing standards; reaction formation presents the opposite attitude of a true impulse to hide it, not adopt it as one’s own.