Which of the following is a defence mechanism in which one performs reverted…

Concept

Defence mechanisms are unconscious strategies of the ego, described in psychoanalytic theory, that reduce anxiety by altering how a threatening impulse or reality is handled. They are distinguished by what the ego does with the impulse: it may be barred from awareness, turned into its opposite, assigned to another person, or escaped by falling back to an earlier stage of functioning.

The mechanism defined by that last move, namely abandoning the present age-appropriate level of behaviour and returning to conduct belonging to an earlier developmental stage, is the one meant by “reverted” behaviour.

Application

“Performs reverted behaviour” therefore describes a person who, under stress or frustration, gives up mature coping and resumes behaviour typical of a younger age. Regression is exactly this mechanism: a school-age child may begin thumb-sucking or bed-wetting again after a new sibling arrives, and an adult may sulk or throw a tantrum when a plan collapses. The correct answer is therefore Regression.

Cross-check

• Reaction formation reverses the direction of an impulse rather than its developmental level: the person outwardly displays the opposite of what is felt, such as exaggerated politeness towards someone disliked.

• Repression removes the material from consciousness altogether, so there is no overt behaviour being performed at all.

• Projection shifts the impulse outward onto another person, so what changes is who is seen to own the impulse, not the age-level of the behaviour.

Only one of the four moves behaviour backwards in developmental time, so the defence mechanism in which one performs reverted behaviour is Regression.