The Influences of Defense Mechanisms on Learning

Individuals demonstrate defensive mechanisms. The current study refers to the immature defense mechanisms of learners. It aims to investigate how immature defense mechanisms among learners, especially those of emerging adults, impair self-regulated learning. We analyze how immature defense mechanisms can affect the different processes of self-regulated learning based on the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales (DMRS) and Zimmerman’s cyclical model of self-regulated learning. This study shows that using immature defensive mechanisms may not only have a negative influence on the activated self-efficacy beliefs of the learner but also on the subsequent processes of the forethought, performance, and self-reflection phases of self-regulated learning. The consequence is a suppressed awareness of learning, which increases as the adaptiveness of defenses decreases. This research reveals the close connection between self-regulated learning and ego development, emphasizing the strong role of an educated ego for learning that obtains pleasure while acknowledging reality.