What is Displacement?

What is Displacement?

• A. Transferring feelings from the true source of distress onto a substitute target
• B. Suppressing memories from consciousness
• C. Attributing one's own feelings to others
• D. Redirecting impulses into socially acceptable behavior

Answer: (A)

Displacement is a defense mechanism where strong emotions toward a real source of distress are redirected onto a safer or more acceptable target. For example, someone who feels anger toward their boss but can’t express it there might come home and snap at a family member. This redirection captures the idea of moving the emotion from the true source to a substitute object, which is exactly what displacement describes. The other options point to different processes: suppressing memories would be suppression (or repression when unconscious), which isn’t about redirecting feelings; attributing one’s own feelings to others is projection; redirecting impulses into socially acceptable behavior is sublimation. So this choice best matches displacement.

Displacement is a defense mechanism where strong emotions toward a real source of distress are redirected onto a safer or more acceptable target. For example, someone who feels anger toward their boss but can’t express it there might come home and snap at a family member. This redirection captures the idea of moving the emotion from the true source to a substitute object, which is exactly what displacement describes.

The other options point to different processes: suppressing memories would be suppression (or repression when unconscious), which isn’t about redirecting feelings; attributing one’s own feelings to others is projection; redirecting impulses into socially acceptable behavior is sublimation. So this choice best matches displacement.