Isolation (psychology)

A wide range of studies support the conclusion that people defend themselves against threats by mentally isolating them. Repressors have been shown to process information in a rushed, shallow, or minimal fashion. When presented with some negative information, they will often generate spontaneous happy thoughts or feelings, minimizing its impact. Evidence from human and animal studies shows that isolation prompts sensitivity to social threats and motivates the renewal of social connections. One study showed that people would remain satisfied with their performance in the face of negative feedback as long as they could keep the feedback isolated from performance standards. The researchers would present the standards either before the performance, or after the performance but before the feedback, or after both the performance and the feedback. The people who received the standards early recalled them as well as the others, but simply ignored them. They managed to isolate their feedback from the standards, thereby minimizing the threat to their self-esteem. Those who received the standards later were less satisfied with their performance, unable to avoid their lack of success as compared to the norm. This form of isolation has been referred to as trivializing. Effect Habitual repressors have been shown to have fewer unhappy memories than other people, but the difference rests in the secondary associations. The phrase "architecture of less complex emotions" was created to describe this phenomenon. Repressors have bad memories just like anyone else, but they are less troubled by them because they are relatively isolated in memory. Most current researchers have agreed that isolation is one of the most effective and important mechanisms of defense from harmful cognitions. It is a coping mechanism that does not require delusions of reality, which makes it more plausible than some alternatives (denial, sublimation, projection, etc.). Further research will be needed for accounts of isolation to be considered fully concrete. ==References==