Idealization and devaluation are a linked pair of defense mechanisms rooted in splitting, the tendency to see people or situations as entirely good or entirely bad. In idealization, a person attributes exaggeratedly positive qualities to themselves or someone else, while in devaluation they attribute exaggeratedly negative qualities, often to the same person at different times. Both patterns appear normally during childhood development, but when early development is disrupted, for example by trauma, they can persist into adulthood as a rigid, pathological way of relating to other people.
Facts
Classification
Type of Phenomenon Type of PhenomenonDevelopmental Phenomenon 1 Core ClaimAn individual unable to integrate difficult feelings mobilizes a defense called splitting to overcome feelings perceived as unbearable. 1 Sources
1. Idealization and devaluation, Wikipedia
Lead, first two sentences
Psychoanalytic theory posits that an individual unable to integrate difficult feelings mobilizes specific defenses to overcome these feelings, which the individual perceives to be unbearable. The defense that effects (brings about) this process is called splitting.
lead section, phenomenon-kind classification
In child development, idealization and devaluation are quite normal.
lead section, phenomenon-kind classification, additional value emotional
When viewing people as all good, the individual is said to be using the defense mechanism idealization: a mental mechanism in which the person attributes exaggeratedly positive qualities to the self or others.
In Group: Defense Mechanisms, Lead
Psychoanalytic theory posits that an individual unable to integrate difficult feelings mobilizes specific defenses to overcome these feelings, which the individual perceives to be unbearable.
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