The authors and others have previously demonstrated individual variations in adaptive behavior, called cognitive system principles, and the similarities between these and ego defenses. This study replicates a previous finding that on a neutral psychophysical task subjects who rely chiefly on repression as a defense mechanism are 'levelers' in the cognitive system principle of leveling-sharpening. Levelers were selected on the basis of their tendency to obscure size and weight differences in tests of successive comparisons, and their Rorschach protocols were judged on the variable of repression. Of several possible explanations for the linking of these adaptive and defensive processes the authors believe that repression relies, in part, upon the process of leveling for its execution, providing a plausible and partial explanation for choice of defense.