Over the last decades, there has been sustained research activity on adult learning focusing on cognitivist, behaviorist and constructivist aspects of learning and teaching. However, to my knowledge, investigating learning and teaching of adults from a psychoanalytical perspective has received limited attention in adult education literature. A deeper understanding of how defensive mechanisms affect formal and non-formal learning allows teachers to create educational conditions that will allow for the development of the learner.

This paper focusses on the minor image-distorting defensive mechanisms. “Minor image-distorting defenses protect the individual from experiences that affect one’s self esteem, such as failure, criticism, or disappointment that cause feelings of weakness, powerlessness, or shame“ (Di Giuseppe, & Perry, 2021, p. 4). The aim of the current study is to generate a systematic understanding of how the minor image-distorting defensive mechanisms affect the learning process in non-formal and formal adult education. The exploratory question of how these mechanisms affect learning in a systematic way will lay the foundation to support learners in becoming aware of their defensive mechanisms.

Based on the hierarchical organization of defense mechanisms proposed by Vaillant (1971, 1992) and operationalized by Perry (1990), we will analyze how to transfer the model of the minor image-distorting defensive mechanisms to the teaching process and learning of adults.

The results contribute to recognizing the role of defensive mechanisms in learning and teaching. The analysis revealed that the process of awareness is a central pedagogical category in adult education. These findings can inspire a practical didactic approach in adult education in how to support learning and teaching in becoming aware of these mechanisms to promote the learner’s development.

References:
[1] Di Giuseppe M., & Perry J.C (2021). The Hierarchy of Defense Mechanisms: Assessing Defensive Functioning With the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales Q-Sort. Front. Psychol. 12:718440. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.718440
[2] Perry, J. C. (1990). Defense Mechanism Rating Scales (DMRS), 5th Edn. Perry, JC.
[3] Vaillant, G. E. (1971). Theoretical hierarchy of adaptive ego mechanisms: a 30-year follow-up of 30 men selected for psychological health. Archives of General Psychiatry, 24, 107–118. doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1971.01750080011003
[4] Vaillant, G. E. (1992). Ego Mechanisms of Defense: A Guide for Clinicians and Researchers. American Psychiatric Press.

Keywords: Image Distorting defenses, adult education.