Primary Defense Mechanisms among University Students with Disabilities: A Comparative Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59759/educational.v4i3.1109Keywords:
Defense Mechanisms, People with Disabilities, University Level, A Comparative Study.Abstract
The current study aimed to identify the differences in the use of primary defense mechanisms among people with disabilities at the level of dimension (mature, neurotic, immature) and each defense method in each dimension, and to reveal the existence of differences in the use of primary defense mechanisms among students with disabilities (hearing, visual, and motor) at the level of dimension and each defense method in each dimension, and to identify the differences in the use of primary defense mechanisms among students according to the variable of type of disability and gender. The study sample consisted of 132 non-disabled students (43), visually impaired (46), hearing impaired (29), and motor impaired (14) male and female students at Jordanian universities. To achieve the study objectives, a scale of primary defense mechanisms was constructed, and its validity and reliability were verified. The results indicated that there are no differences between students with disabilities and normal students in the use of primary defense mechanisms at the level of dimensions, as the results showed that the most used mature defense mechanisms were at an average level, followed by neuroticism, and in last place immature, but there are differences at the level of primary defense mechanisms in each dimension; The results indicated that the most commonly used neurotic mechanism among students without disabilities and those with visual and motor disabilities was pedantry, and displacement among those with hearing disabilities. The most commonly used immature defense mechanism among students without disabilities and those with hearing disabilities was denial. While students with visual and motor disabilities were complaining. There were no statistically significant differences in all primary defense mechanisms except (repression and passive aggression) attributed to the gender variable. The differences in repression were in favor of females, while in passive aggression, they were in favor of males. The results also showed the presence of statistically significant differences in the primary defense mechanisms attributed to the variable of the type of disability among students with disabilities on the dimensions (sublimation, retreat, displacement, passive aggression) in favor of hearing impairment. (Deconstruction, self-deprecation and humiliation of others, denial, justification, daydreaming) in favor of motor disability. Based on the study results, the study recommends the importance of preparing and developing guidance programs to enable students, both those with and without disabilities, to deal with and adapt to conflicts and acute problems to avoid the use of maladaptive defense mechanisms, and to expand psychological awareness campaigns directed at university students on the use of mature adaptive psychological defense mechanisms.
Keywords: defense mechanisms, people with disabilities, university students.
Downloads
References
Alharthi, E. A. (2022). The Degree of Using Psychological Defense Mechanisms and its Relationship to Academic Achievement in Distance Education During the Corona Pandemic. International Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies, 11 (5), 1141-1156.
https://doi.org/10.31559/EPS2022.11.5.13
Almajali, D. M. M. M., & Abdelrasheed, N. S. G. (2024). Non-Adaptive Defense Mechanisms and Their Relationship to Psychosomatic Disorders among a Sample of University Students. European Psychiatry, 67(S1), S422-S422. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2024.872
American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th End. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Aslam, N., Zareef, S., Ahmed, A. & Khan, M. (2023). Effect of Defense Mechanisms and Coping Strategies on Psychological Wellbeing Among University Students During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Pakistan Journal of Education, 40 (1), 39-66
Cramer, P. (1991). The Development of Defense Mechanisms: Theory, Research, and Assessment. New York: Springer-Verlag.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9025-1
Cramer, P. (2014). Defense Mechanisms: 40 Years of Empirical Research. Journal of Personality Assessment, 97(2), 114–122.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2014.947997
Di Giuseppe, M., & Perry, J. C. (2021). The hierarchy of defense mechanisms: assessing defensive functioning with the defense mechanisms rating scales Q-sort. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 718440.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.718440
Eranimos, B., Thankappan, S., & Municipality, G. (2019). Defense mechanisms of persons with locomotor disabilities. Journal of Biomedical Sciences, 6-6. https://doi.org/10.3126/jbs.v6i3.26824
Falloh, A. (2018). The academic reality of the university student (field study). Institute of Social and Human Sciences University Center Ahmed Zabana, Relizane, Algeria.
Hyphantis, T., Goulia, P., Floros, G. D., Iconomou, G., Pappas, A. I., Karaivazoglou, K., & Assimakopoulos, K. (2011). Assessing Ego Defense Mechanisms by Questionnaire: Psychometric Properties and Psychopathological Correlates of the Greek Version of the Plutchik’s Life Style Index. Journal of Personality Assessment, 93(6), 605–617.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2011.608759
Prout, T. A., Di Giuseppe, M., Zilcha-Mano, S., Perry, J. C., & Conversano, C. (2022). Psychometric Properties of the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales-Self-Report-30 (DMRS-SR-30): Internal Consistency, Validity and Factor Structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 104(6), 833–843. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2021.2019053
Saleem, S., Mahmood, Z., & Naz, M. (2013). Mental health problems in university students: A prevalence study. FWU Journal of Social Sciences, 7(2), 124-130.
Shah, S. S., & Verma, R. (2018). A Comparative Study on the Usage of Ego Defense Mechanisms between College Girls and Working and Non-Working Women. International Journal of Indian Psychology, 6 (1), 70-82. https://doi.org/10.25215/0601.069
Vaillant, G. E. (2000). Adaptive mental mechanisms: Their role in a positive psychology. American Psychologist, 55(1), 89–98.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.89
WHO. (2022). Almost one billion children and adults with disabilities and older persons in need of assistive technology denied access, according to new report Retrieved 16 May 2022, from:
