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Compartmentalizationis a form ofpsychological defense mechanismin which thoughts and feelings that seem to conflict are kept separated or isolated from each other in the mind.[1]Those withpost traumatic stress disordermay use compartmentalization to separate positive and negative self aspects.[2]It may be a form of milddissociation;example scenarios that suggest compartmentalization include acting in an isolated moment in a way that logically defies one's own moral code, or dividing one's unpleasant work duties from one's desires to relax.[3]Its purpose is to avoidcognitive dissonance,or the mental discomfort and anxiety caused by a person having conflicting values, cognitions, emotions, beliefs, etc. within themselves.[citation needed]
Compartmentalization allows these conflicting ideas to co-exist by inhibiting direct or explicit acknowledgement and interaction between separate compartmentalized self-states.[4]
Psychoanalytic views
editPsychoanalysisconsiders that whereasisolationseparates thoughts from feeling, compartmentalization separates different (incompatible) cognitions from each other.[5]As a secondary, intellectual defense, it may be linked torationalization.[6]It is also related to the phenomenon of neurotic typing, whereby everything must be classified into mutually exclusive and watertight categories.[7]
Otto Kernberghas used the term "bridging interventions" for the therapist's attempts to straddle and contain contradictory and compartmentalized components of the patient's mind.[8]
Vulnerability
editCompartmentalization can be positive, negative, and integrated depending on the context and person.[9]Compartmentalization may lead to hidden vulnerabilities related toself-organizationandself-esteem[10]in those who use it as a major defense mechanism.[11]When a negative self-aspect is activated, it may cause a drop in self-esteem and mood.[9]This drop in self-esteem and mood is what the observedvulnerabilityis attributed to.[9]
Social identity
editConflicting social identities may be dealt with by compartmentalizing them and dealing with each only in a context-dependent way.[12]
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and compartmentalization
editThose who have PTSD often compartmentalize positive and negative self-aspects more than those without PTSD; this helps keep the negative self-aspects from overtaking the positive self-aspects.[2]Positiveself-conceptcan be kept safe through the use of compartmentalization, specifically for those who have experienced sexual trauma and have, subsequently, been diagnosed with PTSD.[2]
Mindfulness and compartmentalization
editMindfulness meditation may help reduce compartmentalized self-knowledge.[13]Also, those who have greater trait mindfulness may have less negative self-concepts about themselves.[13]
Literary examples
editIn his novel,The Human Factor,Graham Greenehas one of his corrupt officials use the rectangular boxes ofBen Nicholson's art as a guide to avoiding moral responsibility for bureaucratic decision-making—a way to compartmentalize oneself within one's own separately colored box.[14]
Doris Lessingconsidered that the essential theme ofThe Golden Notebookwas "that we must not divide things off, must not compartmentalise. 'Bound. Free. Good. Bad. Yes. No. Capitalism. Socialism. Sex. Love...'".[15]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"Compartmentalization".APA Dictionary of Psychology.American Psychological Association. 2020.
- ^abcClifford, Georgina; Hitchcock, Caitlin; Dalgleish, Tim (April 2020)."Compartmentalization of self-representations in female survivors of sexual abuse and assault, with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)".Psychological Medicine.50(6): 956–963.doi:10.1017/S0033291719000837.ISSN0033-2917.PMC7191781.PMID31010451.
- ^"Medical Dictionary".Farlex and Partners. 2009.
- ^Leary, Mark R.; Tangney, June Price, eds. (13 July 2005).Handbook of self and identity.Guilford Press. pp. 58–61.ISBN978-1-4625-0305-6.
- ^Nancy McWilliams,Psychoanalytic Diagnosis(2011) p. 135-6
- ^McWilliams, p. 200 and p. 136
- ^Otto Fenichel,The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis(1946) p. 286
- ^Salman Akhtar,Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychoanalysis(2009) p. 42
- ^abcThomas, Jenna S.; Ditzfeld, Christopher P.; Showers, Carolin J. (October 2013)."Compartmentalization: A Window on the Defensive Self: Compartmentalization and the Defensive Self".Social and Personality Psychology Compass.7(10): 719–731.doi:10.1111/spc3.12061.
- ^Ditzfeld, C. P., & Showers, C. J. (2013) (2013)."Self-structure: The social and emotional contexts of self-esteem. In V. Zeigler-Hill (Ed.), Self-esteem (pp. 21–42). Psychology Press".psycnet.apa.org.Retrieved2022-05-04.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^J. W. Reich et al,Handbook of Adult Resilience(2012) p. 192
- ^R. J. Crisp,The Psychology of Social and Cultural Diversity(2011) p. 16 and p. 39
- ^abDummel, Sebastian; Stahl, Jutta (2019-02-01)."Mindfulness and the Evaluative Organization of Self-Knowledge".Mindfulness.10(2): 352–365.doi:10.1007/s12671-018-0980-6.ISSN1868-8535.S2CID255795089.
- ^G Greene,The Human Factor(Penguin 1978) p. 38
- ^Doris Lessing,The Golden Notebook(1973) p. 10