Defense mechanisms and morality: A link between isolation and moralization.
Författare
Summary, in English
The relationship between morality and perceptual defense mechanisms was studied. Three new scales were constructed to measure different aspects of morality: moralism (the tendency to evaluate everything in terms of right and wrong), conscience (strength of feelings of right and wrong) and reparation (inclination to repair the damage one has caused). Perceptual defense mechanisms were measured with Kragh’s Defense Mechanism Test (DMT). Three hypotheses about relationships between morality and defense mechanisms, derived from psychoanalytical literature, were tested on 54 male University students. Results show positive correlations between the defense mechanism isolation of affect and moralism, and between identification with the aggressor and reparation. Total amount of perceptual defense correlated positively with moralism. It is argued that the psychological study of morality should take unconscious processes into consideration.
Avdelning/ar
Publiceringsår
2000
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
55-61
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
Volym
41
Issue
1
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Wiley-Blackwell
Ämne
- Psychology
Nyckelord
- morality
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1467-9450