Question

Bruce has been smoking since he was 15-years-old. his doctor tells him that he needs to quit for his health. bruce tells the doctor, "look, smoking is the only bad thing i do, and besides, you have to die of something." this best illustrates the use of a defense mechanism known as _____.

Answer 1

I believe the answer is: rationalization
rationalization refers to the effort that being done in order to justify the reason for certain actions that deemed as 'controversial' by society.
This would act as a defense-mechanism that would protect the perpetrator from having to confront the moral implication of his/her actions.