10. Your 5-year-old brother is the baby of the family. When your mother gives birth to another child, your brother begins to soil his underwear, and your mother is forced to put him back in diapers. Which of the following defense mechanisms is he using?

Question

10.   Your 5-year-old brother is the baby of the family. When your mother gives birth to another child, your brother begins to soil his underwear, and your mother is forced to put him back in diapers. Which of the following defense mechanisms is he using?

anonymous · Answer

Hello there! I can help you, but I would be better able to help you if you posted your answer choices. Then I could work with you from there (I have a bit of a process). :)

anonymous · Answer

The defense mechanism that the question is asking about is "Regression." 

In psychology, "regression" is where we mentally go backward in time, 
to an earlier part of our lives. 
We start behaving as though we're much younger, than we really are. 

In the paragraph, 
the 5 year old brother uses this defense mechanism, regression, 
because he doesn't know how to deal with no longer being the center of his mother's attention. 
He doesn't like that he is no longer the center of attention. 

So, as we can see, 
he regresses, and starts behaving like an actual baby, rather than a 5 year old boy, 
because he thinks that this will get him what he wants: attention.