Your Defense Mechanisms: Take the Defense Style Questionnaire

The Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) is the most widely used and studied survey to test a person's defense mechanism.  It, of course, needs to be answered honestly in order to give an accurate reading. The Defense Style Questionnaire was developed by the authors of the following paper, where it was first mentioned: "The Defense Style Questionnaire." Andrews, Gavin; Singh, Michelle; Bond, Michael. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Vol 181(4), Apr 1993, 246-256.

The DSQ provides scores on 3 scales:

• Mature Defenses
• Neurotic Defenses
• Immature Defenses

Calvin, of the comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes", 

frequently called "the last great comic strip", 

describes what it is like to live in Denial,

a psychological defense mechanism classified as pathological

I have provided below a link to an abbreviated version of the DSQ available online.  Your scores will appear next to a "mean" based on a large sample of college students that have taken the test.

When looking at your results pay attention to:

• How each of your scores compare to each of the means
• How the sum of your scores compare to the sum of the three means
• Do you have more defenses or less defenses than what is typical?

Analyzing the scores in this way will provide you with a fairly accurate portrayal of whether you are a more defensive than average or rather a less defensive person. It will also show you what the character of your ego is, as you may be well-adjusted, neurotic, or just immature.

To learn what defenses the "mature", "neurotic", and "immature" classifications include, please refer to Vaillant´s categorization of defense mechanisms. Note: The DSQ does not measure pathological defenses as a separate category. It includes pathological defenses in the immature category.

Having read the above, you are ready ---

Take the Defense Style Questionnaire!

Know yourself.

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Other psychological personality tests you may enjoy:

Attachment Style Test (New article, with complete theory, dynamics, and free copies of the DSM V and ICD-10!)

The Myers-Briggs Personality Test

The Enneagram Personality Test

Lüscher Color Test (Expanded background information)

The MMPI-2 Personality Inventory

MBTI personality test: Take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator free online

The Myers-Briggs personality test is used with increasing frequently in Business and Human Resources for the purpose of building teams that can work effectively together by assembling these in such a way that its members complement one another.  This approach has proved useful not only by increasing productivity and the quality of the work but also by reducing quarrels between individuals within the assembled groups.

The Myers-Briggs test is based on Jungian Archetypes, classifying people into one of 16 personality types that result mathematically from a classification along four dichotomies.  The dichotomies are: Extroverted vs. Introverted, Sensing vs. iNtuitive, Feeling vs. Thinking, and Perceiving vs Judging.

MBTI's 16 personality archetypes organized by characteristic cognitive functions.

Your own archetype may or may not be stable throughout your lifespan depending on how deep you fall into one side of each dichotomy.  For example, I personally fluctuate between INFP (i.e., the Healer or Protector), INTP (i.e., the Architect or Mastermind), and sometimes even ENFP, and this is perfectly O.K.  As a result, I tend to take the test every year or two just to check and perhaps obtain some insight into a situation I've been facing.





Once you receive your result, you should head over to Wikipedia where there is a very in-depth description of the conceptual framework, its history, and methodology of the test, as well as individual wiki entries for each personality type.

I personally think everyone should know how their personality is skewed when it comes to these ancient archetypes.  So ---

Take the Myers-Briggs Jungian typology test!

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Other psychological personality tests you may enjoy:

The Enneagram Personality Test

Lüscher Color Test

The Defense Style Questionnaire

Attachment Style Test (New article, with complete theory, dynamics, and free copies of the DSM V and ICD-10!)

The MMPI-2 Personality Inventory