Spinelli,
Joseph (1/10) The relationship between ego mechanisms of defense and reflective
functioning (Philip Wong, Ph.D.; Nicholas Papouchis, Ph.D.; Barry Ritzler, Ph.D.)
Research has indicated that the capacity
for reflective functioning, or mentalization, is associated with factors
indicative of psychological health, including resilience and the ability to
regulate affect. While researchers have begun to identify the determinants of
reflective functioning in early infant-caregiver attachment, there continue to
be questions about the relationship between reflective functioning and
personality. Based on the fact that earlier theoretical literature has
suggested that ego defense mechanisms are related to patterns of attachment
originating in childhood, and to mentalization in adulthood, the current study
aimed to examine the relationship between ego defense mechanisms and reflective
functioning. This study incorporated both self-report and narrative coding
measures of ego defenses. Fifty-four participants from an undergraduate university
population from a variety of ethnic groups completed measures of reflective
functioning, ego defensive functioning, emotional awareness, and psychological
mindedness. Multiple regression analyses were employed to test the hypotheses
that reflective functioning would differ by level of ego defenses; the
hypotheses were largely supported. Psychological mindedness was found to be a
moderator variable in the relationship between ego defenses and reflective
functioning. Contrary to expectations, level of emotional awareness was not
related to any of the variables. Supplemental analyses examined the
relationship between defenses, RF, and psychological mindedness by conducting
partial correlations. The impact of this study on psychoanalytic models was explored
and implications for future research were discussed.
