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Process of Adjustent :

People are capable of rational problem-solving-they can face a problem squarely, weigh the alternatives according to their probable consequences, and take action guided by the results of deliberation. Our knowledge of defence mechanisms tells us, however, that some behavior that appears to be activated by conscious reasoning is in fact directed by unconscious motives. Direct Problem-solving

It is possible to attack and solve a problem as we do any other kind of problem-such as one in mathematics or science-by asking clear questions, assembling evidence, judging the possible consequences, and trying to verify in practice what we have concluded from the evidence. But, there are two chief reasons why we are often not able to solve our personal problems in this straightforward, rational manner.

1. A person’s motives or emotions may be so strongly involved that they distort the evidence or the problem itself, so that the person is incapable of direct problem-solving. The self-deceptive mechanisms that we have been considering tend to set up such obstacles.

For example, the engineering or premedical student who is failing cannot admit his inability to pursue certain courses at a chosen college; this student must therefore find a rationalization instead of solving the academic problem. Getting sick will convert an academic problem into a health problem; becoming a subject for disciplinary action will convert an intellectual problem into a disciplinary one. When defense mechanisms hold sway, the person sets up obstacles that stand in the way of a rational solution to problems.

2. Sometimes the equation has too many unknowns. The world in which we live is not sufficiently orderly to permit fully rational problem-solving. We have to take risk based on our best estimates about the future. But, while, the estimate of probabilities is the most rational solution, the uncertainty involved may not satisfy us, and we may relieve our anxiety by adopting a superstitious or fatalistic solution.

Because of these limitations, both internal and external-upon purely reasonable conduct, we are often tempted to fall back on irrational mechanisms.

Satisfactory Adjustment

How successfully can a person use defence mechanisms to avoid or reduce anxiety and to maintain self-esteem? It defence mechanisms were not partially successful, they would not persist as they do. They may provide a protective armor while, we are learning more mature and realistic way of solving our problems. When we no longer need the defences, their importance fades, and we increasingly face our problems according to the demands of the total situation. The defence mechanisms thus, help toward satisfactory adjustment in several ways.

1. They give us time to solve problems that might otherwise overwhelm us. Being able to rationalize failures that would otherwise cause us to despair, or to find partial justification for conduct that would otherwise make us despise ourselves, sustains us until we can work out better solutions to our conflicts. These defence mechanisms provide palliatives comparable to those drugs that reduce symptoms without curing disease.

Some of the antihistamines for example, relieve the sneezing, itching, and learning of hayfever victims until they take the pollen tests and allergy shots that will get at the cause of the hayfever. The temporary relief helps them to live more comfortably until the basic treatment-desensitization against the offending pollens-can become effective. Similarly, defence mechanisms may provide relief against anxiety until more realistic ways of solving personal problems are worked out.

2. The mechanisms may permit experimentation with new roles and hence, teach new modes of adjustment. Even when we adopt new roles for faulty reasons, as in reaction-formation, or when we misjudge people, as in projection, we expose ourselves to corrective experiences from which we may learn. We may judge some people to be unkind but, as we discover their genuine acts of kindness we may learn to correct our errors in judgment. What begins as self-deception may provide occasions for modifying the self.

3. Rationalization, by starting a search for reasons, may lead to rational conduct in the future. The tendency to justify behavior that we have found satisfying may lead to false reasons, but, it may also lead to a more careful analysis of cause-and-effect relationships. If the latter occurs, a present rationalization may become a future reason.