Final answer:
Unconscious behaviors that relieve anxiety, known as defense mechanisms, are used by the ego to protect itself from anxiety and reconcile the demands of the id and the superego. These include repression, reaction formation, regression, and projection.
Step-by-step explanation:
Unconscious and usually ineffective behaviors that are performed to relieve fear and anxiety are called defense mechanisms. Sigmund Freud proposed that the ego uses these mechanisms to protect itself from being overwhelmed by anxiety when it cannot reconcile the demands of the id and the superego. An example of this is reaction formation, a type of defense mechanism where a person expresses feelings, thoughts, and behaviors opposite to their true inclinations. A high school student, grappling with his sexuality, might exhibit behavior to conceal his actual same-sex attractions due to the fear of ostracism and rejection.
Different types of defense mechanisms include repression, where overwhelming memories are blocked out of consciousness, regression, where an individual reverts to an earlier stage of development, and projection, where a person denies their own undesirable traits and instead attributes those traits to others. These behaviors are a part of the fight-or-flight response, triggered by anxiety and designed to protect the individual from psychological harm. However, these mechanisms can distort reality and can lead to dysfunctional behaviors if overused.