Ananya had a small quarrel with her best friend just before an exam. That evening she told herself that her friend was only tired after a long day, felt calmer, and called her the next morning as usual. Her neighbour Rohit lost his job six months ago. He still leaves home every morning in office clothes, tells his family he is very busy at work, throws unopened bank letters away and insists that nothing in his life has changed. His savings are now almost gone.
In Freud's view, which of the following best explains the difference between Ananya's and Rohit's behaviour?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Ananya's defence is normal and adaptive, while Rohit's distorts reality enough to cause maladjustment.
Option (1) Ananya's ego works by the reality principle, while Rohit's id works by the pleasure principle. — Incorrect. The reality principle and the pleasure principle describe how the ego and the id work. Rohit is not chasing an immediate pleasure. Like Ananya, his ego is guarding itself from a painful fact, so this does not explain the difference.
Option (2) Ananya's defence is normal and adaptive, while Rohit's distorts reality enough to cause maladjustment. — Correct. A defence mechanism reduces anxiety by distorting reality. Some use of it is normal and adaptive: Ananya eases her worry and keeps the friendship going. Rohit refuses to face his job loss for months while his savings run out, so reality is truly distorted, and this leads to maladjustment.
Option (3) Ananya's superego keeps her id in control, while Rohit's id has become stronger than his superego. — Incorrect. The superego is the moral branch of the mind. It tells the id and the ego whether a wish is ethical. Neither story is about a moral conflict or guilt, so the balance of id and superego does not explain the difference.
Option (4) Ananya is using repression, while Rohit is using projection to deal with the loss of his job. — Incorrect. In repression a feeling is pushed fully out of awareness; in projection people see their own traits in others. Rohit does not blame others for his own traits. His refusal to accept his job loss is denial, and Ananya is not repressing anything.
NCERT (2026-27): “Ego Defence Mechanisms “Other major defence mechanisms are projection, denial, reaction formation and rationalisation. In projection, people attribute their own traits to others. Thus, a person who has strong aggressive tendencies may see other people as acting in an excessively aggressive way towards her/him. In denial, a person totally refuses to accept reality. …” |