Defenses, personality structure, and development: Integrating psychodynamic theory into a typological approach to personality

Psychodynamic theory does not conceptualize motivated unconscious defenses primarily in terms of individual traits. Rather, a person's mechanisms of d efense are understood in terms of his or her personality structure and leve l of psychological development. This paper outlines the way in which this p erspective has been integrated into a configural approach to personality as sessment. The six-group typology based on the Weinberger Adjustment Invento ry (WAI) identifies higher-order personality organization through the inter section of self-reported high/low distress and high/moderate/low self-restr aint. The framework incorporates a developmental perspective by assessing a ffect regulation in conjunction with the internalization of self-regulatory controls. The primary defenses of prototypic members of each of the six gr oups are highlighted, and hypothesized links to personality traits, stages of ego development, attachment styles, and proneness to specific personalit y disorders are discussed.