Identity, personality, and defense mechanisms: An observer-based study

The relationships among identity, defense mechanisms, and self-esteem, demonstrated in a previous study (Cramer, 1995), were investigated again using different measures and a different subject population. Consistent with the previous findings, there was a clear relationship between identity crisis and the use of defense mechanisms; the use of defenses was found to be a linear function of the degree of crisis associated with the identity status. Ln addition, as in the earlier study, the Achieved and Foreclosed personalities were both associated with positive self-regard, while the noncommitted personalities (Moratorium and Diffusion) were related to low self-esteem. (C) 1997 Academic Press.