The Developmental Course of Defense Mechanisms in Later Life

Abstract

Many have proposed that in later life there is a return to the use of primitive psychological defense mechanisms, such as denial and projection. The theoretical literature is clouded by a common failure to distinguish regression of defenses from defensive failure and regression of drive. Although research directly examining the developmental course of defenses in adults is scanty, empirical studies emerging out of the fields of coping processes and personality development indirectly address the regression hypothesis. Studies measuring overt social phenomena and self-reported psychological data point to few age differences in adaptive strategies that would be suggestive of regression. Investigations measuring psychological processes through projective tests and dreams have obtained results consonant with the regression hypothesis, although replications have not always been successful. Most available studies are cross-sectional and, therefore, cannot separate cohort from aging effects. Finally, the potential influence of physical illness and the changes in sociocultural status that accompany aging are discussed both as methodological confounds in current research and as factors influencing the observed developmental course of defense mechanisms in current society.