Mood variability and defense mechanism preference.

Abstract

Mood variability, defined as variability in average daily mood, has been associated with neuroticism (Cattell, 1957; Fiske, 1957) and depression (Fiske, 1957) and negatively with defensiveness (Fiske, 1957). Variability of intraday mood, defined as the average range in daily mood, has also been negatively related to repression and lying good as measured by the MMPI (Wessman & Ricks, 1966). The present study uitlized the Defense Mechanism Inventory (Gleser & Ihilevich, 1969) to measure defense mechanisms. Since reversal, as measured by the inventory, is closest to previously measured defensiveness, reversal was hypothesized to be correlated with variability of both intra- and interday mood. Five defense mechanisms, turning against others, projection, intellectualization, turning against self, and reversal, were correlated with variability of intraday and interday mood on seven mood scales for a college-age sample. Moods were rated each day for 30 days. None of the 175 Pearsonian correlations between variability of ~nterday and intraday moods were significant for women (N = 32) or men (N = 23), suggtsting that variability of mood is not a homogeneous entity. For women, 7s between defense mechanisms and variability of intra- and interday moods were not significant. For men, the defense mechanism of reversal was correlated with intraday stability of energy level and depression (p < .05) and with interday stability of impulse expression (p < .01). Turning against others, which is both conceptually and empirically (r = -.59 in women; r = -.69 in men) negatively correlated with reversal correlated with variability of intraday mood on four of seven moods: sense of personal freedom, anger, impulse expression, and energy level (p < .05).