Introduction:
 Imagine John is a married male who was raised to believe
homosexuality is wrong. While talking with Bob in the locker room one day,
John’s id has a lustful impulse towards Bob. Even to become aware of this
impulse would evoke feelings of moral anxiety (my impulses are sinful),
neurotic anxiety (what if I actually start to fantasize about Bob or make a
pass at him?), and reality anxiety (homosexual feelings or actions could
ruin my stable married life). To protect itself from these anxious feelings,
John’s ego may engage a wide variety of defense mechanisms, ranging from
denial to sublimation. The psychoanalytic perspective suggests we are all
vulnerable to anxieties of one sort or another, and are continually using
various defense mechanisms to cope with them. In this section, we will
examine the most important of these defenses.
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