A teenager who had his heart set on winning a tennis match breaks his arm in an auto accident. He sends in an entry form to play in the competition which begins just days after the accident. His behavior is influenced by which defense mechanism?

• A. Denial
• B. Reaction formation
• C. Identification
• D. Introjection

Answer: (A)

Denial is a defense mechanism where a person refuses to accept painful reality. Here, the teen’s serious injury doesn’t stop him from entering a competition he wants to win; he acts as if the accident and broken arm don’t affect him by moving forward with the entry. That avoidance of acknowledging the injury’s impact best fits denial. The other options don’t capture this pattern: reaction formation would involve behaving in a way opposite to true feelings, identification would mean adopting someone else’s traits, and introjection would be internalizing others’ values or attitudes.