Features of Psychological Defenses and Self-Expression in Women with Different Levels of Internal Conflict

Introduction. The relevance of the topic is determined by the high influence of self-attitude, in particular, internal conflict, on the behavior of the individual and, as a result, on the quality of life and subjective well-being.
Objective. To study the features of the structure of psychological defenses and self-expression in women as predictors and consequences of internal conflict.
Materials and Methods. To collect empirical data, we used the “Internal conflict” scale, which is part of S. R. Pantileev’s “MIS”, “Methodology for diagnosing the structure and strength of psychological defense” and the questionnaire “Strategies of self-expression”. The results were processed using Mann-Whitney U-test, correlation analysis, and linear regression.
Results. The study involved 94 women aged 18 to 43 years. The respondents were divided into two groups: 1) women with a low level of internal conflict (n = 54), 2) women with a high level of internal conflict (n = 40). Statistically significant differences were confirmed on the scales of “Weakness Demonstrations / pleading”, “Impression Tracking”, “Displacement”, “Regression” and “Bias”. The average values of all parameters are higher in the group of women with a high level of internal conflict. The core of the relationships between the parameters of defense mechanisms and self-expression in group 1 is built around the indicators “Regression”, “Demonstration of weakness/ pleading” and “Tracking impressions”. In Group 2, relationships are built around the parameters “Behavior Variability”, “Sublimation”, “Impression Tracking” and “Projection”. Psychological defenses “Displacement”, “Regression” and “Displacement” are predictors of internal conflict. At the same time, internal conflict affects the expression of the parameters of self-expression “Demonstration of weakness / plea” and “Tracking impressions”.
Discussion. Internal conflict manifested itself as an intermediate variable: on the one hand, it is determined by various types of psychological defenses (regression, displacement, displacement), and on the other hand, it itself acts as a factor of individual behavior (demonstration of weakness, tracking impressions).

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