Final answer:
Dealing with unacceptable feelings or impulses by unconsciously changing them into acceptable expressions is known as sublimation, which is a mature defense mechanism helping to manage psychological stress.
Step-by-step explanation:
Dealing with unacceptable feelings or impulses by unconsciously submitting acceptable forms of expression is known as sublimation. This is a defense mechanism where negative or socially unacceptable impulses are transformed into positive actions or behavior. Sublimation can be seen as a mature way of handling inner conflicts.
For example, an individual experiencing aggressive urges might take up a contact sport to channel that aggression into a socially accepted activity. This allows the person to express those unacceptable impulses in a constructive and acceptable way. Unlike other defense mechanisms such as repression, where disturbing thoughts are pushed out of conscious awareness, or denial, where reality is refuted, sublimation redirects the feelings.
Defense mechanisms are a part of Freud's psychoanalytic theory and they play a crucial role in managing psychological distress. They operate unconsciously and can range from primitive, such as denial, to more mature mechanisms, like sublimation. Utilizing defense mechanisms can be a natural part of dealing with everyday life stresses but may become problematic when overused.