Psychological Defense as a Moderator Variable

The cross-situational stability of defensive style was investigated by administering the Defense Mechanisms Inventory to 52 undergraduate students. Analyses of variance were performed on each of the two defensive style variables and percentages of variance accounted for by persons, situations, items and their interactions were estimated from the mean squares. Persons and the person-situation interaction accounted for approximately equal percentages of variance in both defensive styles. Implications of the results for conceptualizing defensiveness and for the utility of defensiveness as a moderator variable are discussed.