are related to early childhood experiences. One team of investigators tested
this notion (Cramer & Block, 1998). The researchers began by measuringthe amount of stress experienced by a group of 3-year-olds. They then waited
20 years before contacting the participants again and examining the kinds of
defense mechanisms used by the now 23-year-old adults. As expected, the
men who as adults frequently relied on denial were the participants who had
experienced the highest levels of stress in their early childhood. The research-
ers reasoned that the men had relied heavily on the age-appropriate defensemechanism of denial when they were young. Because denial helped the boys
deal with their psychological distress, they continued to rely on this defense
mechanism as adults.
Unfortunately, in the real world we cannot simply insist that a problem
does not exist. Not surprisingly, investigators often find that the use of imma-ture defenses is associated with problems in psychological functioning(Cramer, 1999, 2002; Kwon, 2000; Segal, Coolidge & Mizuno, 2007;
Vaillant, 1992; Zeigler-Hill, Chadha, & Osterman, 2008). One team of re-
searchers found that adults who commonly rely on immature and ineffectivedefenses like denial have more problems with hostility, depression, and alcohol
abuse than adults who use more effective defense mechanisms (Davidson,
MacGregor, Johnson, Woody, & Chaplin, 2004).
Defensive style may also have implications for how people react to com-
mon sources of stress. Researchers in one study examined the use of defensemechanisms by parents during a particularly stress-filled time in their lives —
the months immediately before the birth of their first child and the first
year of the child ’s life (Ungerer, Waters, & Barnett, 1997). The demands of
a newborn, coupled with the financial and personal burdens that come with
parenthood, can be a major source of stress and anxiety. New parents who
fail to deal with these stressors often experience a decline in general satisfac-
tion with their relationship. Consistent with these observations, the investiga-tors found that parents who typically relied on immature defense mechanisms
such as denial and projection were less happy with their partners as they
faced the anxieties of parenting. On the other hand, mothers and fatherswho relied on more mature defense mechanisms, such as sublimation, re-
mained satisfied with their relationship despite the challenges and anxieties
the baby brought into their lives.
HUMOR
One type of humor has taken many forms over the years but never seems to
disappear or go out of style. It is particularly popular among older elemen-
tary school children and early teenagers, but it is certainly not limited to these
ages. You may have heard it in the form of “dead baby ”jokes, “Helen
Keller ”jokes, or “Mommy Mommy ”jokes. The point seems to be to evoke
shock and disgust by describing a particularly tasteless image or poking funin an especially insensitive way. In Freud’ s day there were “marriage broker ”
jokes, which always began with a young man visiting a broker to arrange a
marriage with a young woman. For example,80 CHAPTER 4 The Freudian Approach