Motivated Forgetting

Motivated forgetting is a theorized psychological process in which a person forgets an unwanted memory, either consciously or unconsciously. It functions as a defense mechanism, an unconscious or conscious coping technique used to reduce the anxiety that unacceptable or harmful impulses can cause. Thought suppression is one method of motivated forgetting, in which a person protects themselves by blocking the recall of an anxiety-provoking memory, for instance by steering their mind toward unrelated topics when something reminds them of an unpleasant event, producing forgetting without a deliberate intention to forget. Motivated forgetting is generally split into two classes: psychological repression, which is unconscious, and thought suppression, which is a conscious act of excluding a thought or memory from awareness.