Here are some scenarios where sublimation might come into play. In most situations, anger and aggression are socially unacceptable, although there are exceptions. While some people do vent their anger often, the consequences often can be extremely negative. To avoid those negative consequences, they may use sublimation to redirect those urges. Here are some examples. Sexual urges, of course, aren't always unacceptable. If you're in a relationship, they're considered normal.
They could lead to developing a closer bond as well as bringing new life into the world. However, many sexual urges are considered deviant or otherwise harmful. Here are some ways people might sublimate these urges. Sublimation can also help to transform other negative feelings into positive paths. The following examples show other ways sublimation works.
Sublimation in psychology is a neutral concept, neither good nor bad. It's just a description of something that can happen to humans. There are two things to remember about defense mechanisms like sublimation. First, they usually happen on an unconscious level.
That means you may have little control over them. Second, defense mechanisms falsify reality, either by distorting or transforming your view of what's real.
Although it might seem that having a false sense of reality is to be avoided, it can help you get through your darkest days. In some cases, though, good feelings can be sublimated if they seem too big to endure. So, although sublimation is a positive thing in many cases, there are times when it could rob you of experiencing the ecstatic emotions. Still, Anna Freud and others have classified sublimation as one of the most mature defense mechanisms.
As mentioned above, for most of us, sublimation is something that happens subconsciously — without us being aware of it. As a result, sublimation can be as much a problem as the emotions it is burying. Alternatively, therapists can help you actively use sublimation to help you deal with other issues. First, you may want to hold onto the energy that's coming from those unacceptable urges.
Feelings themselves are never inappropriate as long as you choose appropriate ways of dealing with them. So, it isn't wrong or bad to feel the power of those emotions. Once you know what feelings are behind your behaviors, you can allow yourself to experience those feelings without acting directly on them. If you have sad feelings, you can recognize that and intentionally choose to write poems or draw pictures that express them.
The question is: is this really sublimation? After all, it's happening on a conscious level. And, you're still well-grounded in reality. The truth is that it doesn't matter how you classify these activities.
What matters is that you put those energies to work to do something productive rather than destructive. For instance, you may have a strong desire to paint every waking moment. Yet, you don't know why. By talking to a therapist, you can find out why you have that urge.
Then, you can resolve it more completely. Are you troubled by disturbing urges or distressing emotions? If so, you may be able to find a way to resolve them by putting those energies to a more helpful purpose.
You don't have to deny that you have those feelings, but sublimation can help you stay within the bounds of what is socially acceptable and acceptable to you. However, unless you use sublimation naturally and unconsciously, you may have trouble understanding how to make it work.
Or, you may want to choose a different way to deal with the conflict between your urges and your ideals. Fortunately, help is available.
Reaching Out with BetterHelp You can go to a mental health center in your local area to help with managing your urges. If you prefer the comfort and convenience of online therapy, you can talk to a licensed and professional counselor through BetterHelp. Fortunately, people have gone before you and left promising testimonials:. Freud's psychoanalytic theory defined sublimation as a process by which negative urges, drives, and behaviors are channeled into more socially acceptable behaviors.
Examples of sublimation are channeling inappropriate urges into positive behaviors like exercise, therapy, or other physical activities. According to Freud's psychoanalytic theory, defense mechanisms are built-in mental defenses and behaviors that are activated unconsciously by outside circumstances.
Freud believed that sublimation is a defense mechanism that can be activated either consciously or unconsciously in order to channel lower drives into high physical activities. Scientific research supports experimental evidence for sublimation and higher physical activities.
According to personality and social psychology, it is believed that sublimation is a built-in psychological defense mechanism. Sigmund Freud defined sublimation as the process of replacing undesirable desires and behaviors with higher physical activities as an alternative to acting out socially unacceptable behaviors. Real-life examples of sublimation according to the cultural psychological approach occur when people make conscious or unconscious decisions to replace unacceptable behaviors with more socially acceptable behaviors.
If someone is feeling angry or violent towards someone, instead of acting out in an aggressive manner, sublimation is a mature way to resolve the issue. Going for a run or exercising is a higher physical activity than fighting or arguing. Based on interpersonal psychoanalysis, Freud believed that sublimation could be implemented at will using a psychological approach. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Displacement is a psychological defense mechanism in which a person redirects a negative emotion from its original source to a less threatening recipient.
A classic example of the defense is displaced aggression. When people have negative emotions or impulses, they often look for ways to cope with these unwanted feelings.
Unlike the conscious coping strategies that we use to manage daily stress, defense mechanisms operate on an entirely unconscious level. Displacement, like many other psychological defense mechanisms, often occurs subconsciously—the person is not aware they are doing it.
Defense mechanisms are one way the mind unconsciously attempts to reduce our anxiety and restore emotional balance.
We might not be aware of these feelings and urges, but they still influence our behavior and can cause anxiety. When we use displacement, our mind senses that reacting to the original source of our frustration might be unacceptable—even dangerous. Instead, it finds us a less threatening subject that can serve as a safer outlet for our negative feelings.
Sigmund Freud believed that a certain subtype of displacement called sublimation served as an important source of creativity and inspiration. Sublimating provides a constructive outlet for unacceptable urges. Sigmund Freud's daughter Anna Freud was one of the first psychologists to make a list of defense mechanisms. However, displacement was not on the list of original defense mechanisms included in her book, "The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense" originally published in Germany in Anna Freud later stated that although her list outlined several prominent defenses, she believed that it was far from definitive.
Subsequent pioneers in psychology did identify displacement as being an important ego defense mechanism. Research on the validity of displacement has been mixed. For example, a study from suggested that displacement is poorly supported by empirical evidence. For example, while you might restrain yourself in a social setting because reacting would be inappropriate, pushing your feelings down won't make them go away.
Your emotional state will stay the same. Later on, you might find yourself in a setting where you can react with fewer consequences, at which time you will unleash the feelings you suppressed. Other studies have also offered broad support for defense mechanisms, including displacement, as being important to human health and relationships. Looking at data from a year longitudinal study, a group of researchers found that psychological defense mechanisms might influence the body as well as the mind.
In their paper, which was published in , the researchers stated that the subjects in their study who used adaptive defense mechanisms including displacement at mid-life had better physical health later in life.
The researchers suggested that mature defenses play a key role in creating solid and supportive social relationships, which contribute to improved physical health. Imagine that you were reprimanded by your manager at work. Venting your anger or frustration directly to your boss would not only be unwise, but it might even cost you your job.
Instead, you withhold or suppress your emotions until the end of the day. As soon as you get home, you may unleash your anger on your unsuspecting roommate or find yourself overreacting to a triggering event like your children misbehaving. More often than not, the triggering event is relatively insignificant. It's your reaction that is out of proportion—even over the top.
The anger you were feeling at your boss is eventually released but in an indirect way. The consequences of yelling at your roommate or scolding your children are likely to be less severe than if you had taken out your frustration at your boss or coworkers. The object or person that becomes the subject of displaced feelings can vary but is usually chosen because it is less threatening or even powerless.
If you have ever taken out negative feelings on a friend, family member, or even a complete stranger when you were upset about something else, then you have used displacement as a defense mechanism even if you weren't aware of it. Here are a few imagined scenarios many of which might sound or feel familiar to you that exemplify displacement:. Displacement can cause an unintended chain reaction. Displaced aggression, for example, can become a cycle.
For example, imagine an employee who is angry with their boss. They take out their anger on their spouse when they get home. Now angry themselves, the spouse might be irritable with their children. In turn, the kids might take their frustrations out on each other. Displaced interpersonal aggression can also lead to prejudice against specific social groups. For example, some scholars have argued that the animosity Germans felt toward the Jewish people following World War I may have been an example of displaced feelings of anger over the economic ramifications of the war.
Rather than directing their collective anger toward their own actions or their own government, people redirected their rage toward a group of people they deemed to be less threatening targets. This phenomenon is also known as scapegoating. Defense mechanisms are very common and are usually a normal aspect of daily functioning.
Displacement as a defense helps us channel emotions and urges that could be considered inappropriate or harmful to more healthy, safe, or productive outlets. When used appropriately, defenses such as displacement protect us from negative feelings, help minimize disappointment , protect our self-esteem , and manage stress levels.
But defense mechanisms like displacement can also be unhelpful if people rely on them too heavily, or when they lead to problematic behaviors and interactions with others. Overuse of these mechanisms has been linked to psychological distress and poor functioning.
Displacement serves as a way to redirect feelings, but it also has the potential to cause harm. There are several factors that influence how and when displacement occurs. Young children are more direct about expressing their feelings.
Therefore, they are more likely to express their negative emotions toward the original target regardless of the appropriateness of the response. Indeed, you can transform unhealthy defense mechanisms into ones that are more sustainable. These techniques could help:. Even in the long term, they may not be particularly detrimental to your emotional or mental health. Other defense mechanisms, however, are not so mature.
Prolonged use of them can lead to lingering problems. In fact, they may prevent you from ever facing emotional issues or anxieties. In time, this could crop up in unexpected ways. For example, defense mechanisms may make forming relationships more difficult. They can also contribute to some mental health issues.
If you find yourself feeling depressed or sad, unable to get out of bed, or avoiding the usual daily activities of your life or things and people that once made you happy, consider talking to a mental health professional. These are also signs of depression, and therapy can help. Through therapy like psychoanalysis or counseling, you can become more aware of the defense mechanisms you use most often, and you can even work to shift the responses you use from immature or less productive to ones that are more mature, sustainable, and beneficial.
Using more mature mechanisms may help you face the anxieties and situations that might normally cause you stress and emotional duress. Defense mechanisms are normal and natural. They are often used without any long-term complications or issues. However, some people do develop emotional difficulties if they continue to use these mechanisms without coping with the underlying threat or anxiety. Treatment focuses on helping you address issues from a mindful place, not an unconscious one.
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