Sigmund Freud (1894, 1896) and his Daughter Anna gave a few tips about defense mechanisms, and later with time, many other psychologists bountifully added meaning or more elaborations to defense mechanisms, and the two of them I explain here, relate to a reflection from one to the other.
One defense mechanism I consider a reflection of one’s behavior towards others is ‘Compensation’. Compensation psychologically places one’s loopholes or weaknesses by emphasizing on one´s strengths. For example, if a teacher didn’t know how to be funny or interesting in class but knows how to explain intuitively his or her lessons, he or she may decide to build the strength of better explanations than being funny or droll.
Projection on the other hand as a defense mechanism includes attributing one’s inadmissible weaknesses, thoughts, feelings or actions towards others. For example, if a husband hates a wife and tends to believe that instead it’s the wife that hates him.
