Defense Mechanism Questionnaire (30 items)

Psychological defense mechanisms are the habitual, often unconscious strategies people use to manage anxiety, internal conflict, and threatening information. The four-factor model organizes defenses on a maturity continuum: Mature defenses (e.g., sublimation, anticipation) involve minimal reality distortion and are associated with adaptive functioning; Neurotic defenses (e.g., repression, displacement) involve moderate distortion and are often associated with anxious or inhibited styles; Immature defenses split into two groups — Action-based defenses (e.g., acting out, passive aggression) that discharge tension through behavior, and Disavowal defenses (e.g., denial, rationalization) that avoid awareness of the conflict altogether.

This questionnaire is built entirely from public-domain IPIP items mapped onto the established four-factor defense-style framework and is suitable for self-assessment and research. It is not a clinical instrument and does not diagnose defense pathology.