British Journal of Medical Psychology. LVIII, 1985: Advantages of Cognitive Defenses and Stress Management. Alfred B. Heilbrun, Jr. and Victoria Pepe. Pp. 9-17.

In a laboratory setting (with student subjects) a series of word-selection tests was utilized to evaluate 1) the use of four defenses: projection, rationalization, repression, and denial; 2) the conscious awareness of use of defensive maneuvers; and 3) the general level of stress experienced by the subject. The authors observed that subjects using projection and rationalization were unaware of their use of these defenses, and that they reported the lowest level of stress. The authors concluded therefore that these defenses were unconscious and were used to protect the subjects from painful material. This is consistent with the Freudian view of defense. Subjects using repression also were unaware of their use of defenses, but reported a higher level of stress. The authors concluded that repression is an unconscious defense which protects the individual from painful material but does so at severe cost, preventing the effective reduction of stress. Subjects using denial were more conscious of their use of it and reported a very low level of stress. The authors concluded that this defense is a conscious, deliberate style of coping with a problem, not an unconscious process, as were the other defenses. Denial is considered a primitive defense, and it was therefore surprising that it was associated with low stress. The study reports only associative links between reported stress, defense use, and awareness of defense use, and does not claim that causal links have been proven.