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Perceptgenetic defenses against anxiety and a threatened sense of self as seen in terms of the Spiral Aftereffect Technique
Author(s) -
ANDERSSON ALF L.,
BENGTSSON MARGOT
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9450.1985.tb01149.x
Subject(s) - psychology , denial , anxiety , psychoanalytic theory , freudian slip , developmental psychology , impulsivity , psychoanalysis , clinical psychology , psychiatry
In a group of 48 female university students we studied the relation between measures obtained with two perceptgenetic techniques, the Spiral Aftereffect Technique (SAT) and a modified version of the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT). With few exceptions, the findings of a previous study in which male conscripts were tested were confirmed. DMT indices of repression and projected introagression were shown to be related to a successive decrease (minus trend) in aftereffect duration in the SAT, whereas DMT indices of introagression, depressive inhibition and anxiety were found to be related to a successive increase (plus trend). Disavowal, i.e. denial through various forms of reversal of aspects in the DMT motifs, was more prevalent in subjects having a short final aftereffect duration (LL., LL and L classifications) or a long duration (H) than an intermediate one (M). For instance, H subjects more frequently reported the young DMT hero figure to be an elderly person; L subjects were more often incorrect in reporting its sex. The findings were interpreted within a developmental frame of reference combining Freudian, Kleinian and Kohutian psychoanalytic conceptualizations.